


So are you (on hold)

by youreagalaxy



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: BadBoyHalo - Freeform, Cuddling, Fluff, George is me, Hiking, I love badboyhalo with all of my heart, I use real names idk sorry, Just a fun time, Kissing, M/M, Mild Sexual Tension, Road Trip, Slow Burn, a cute lil story, a lot of figuring out feelings in this, bad brings rat, bad is the mom, cute idiots, dream - Freeform, dreamnotfound, first fic on here don't judge me, georgenotfound - Freeform, hand holding, hella fluff, how to tag, i dont think there will be smut but maybe like just tension idk, i suck at updating so, i wrote this when i was sad, idk what im doing obviously, its all fun, its really sweet, minecraft youtubers - Freeform, pick me up story, roadtrip with the dream team, sapnap - Freeform, some angst but not much, sorry for the writing I really do try tho, they have an rv, they're all super cute, they're idiots, this is like really chill story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25396900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youreagalaxy/pseuds/youreagalaxy
Summary: Dream, George, Sapnap, and Bad go on a roadtrip....That’s all, thats the fic.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 275





	1. Intro

"What if we went on a road trip?" Dream asked. 

The question hadn't come out of nowhere, surprisingly. Him and George had been discussing a lot as they played on their survival Minecraft server, trying to get things accomplished but mainly just killing each other for no reason. It resulted in a lot of back and forth chasing, a few insults being thrown in, and sarcastic comebacks. Dream had given George a pumpkin pie as a truce, which lead to talking about pumpkin pies. George had expressed how he had never had one before, earning a very dramatic response from Dream in which he had acted like the Brit committed a crime. 

_'I've got to make you one then, when are you visiting?'_

And that's what got them to the road trip proposal. It caught George a little off guard; it obviously wasn't too serious, but he wouldn't lie and say that excitement didn't bubble in his chest at the idea. He admittedly had never been on a road trip before, which was already cool enough of an idea as is, but also getting to meet his best friend at the same time? 

"Where would we go?" George asked, entertaining the idea; breaking the silence that had overtaken the call as George mulled it over. He could hear Dream typing on his keyboard, and took the opportunity to punch his character in the game a couple of times. 

Dream hummed, "Maybe up west, I've never been there. Theres a lot of pretty outdoors-y type stuff to do. And, it's not hot like Florida, so it's perfect."

"Wait you're not being serious are you?" George pulled up a map of America; he hadn't been there before. Honestly, George wasn't an outside person. His pale skin could testify for that. It's not that he didn't like being outside, but he found no reason to go out by himself. This would be different if he had someone to do it with.

He searched plane tickets for the summer, just because it wouldn't hurt to do so. A smile broke out on his face when the audio from the game revealed some plant noises. He guessed Dream was planting flowers, a normal thing for him at this point. He would give George flowers in special ways, initially, it made him kinda blush, but over time, it started to become a nuisance when all of his chests would be filled with every flower in the game. 

They continued to discuss the possibility of the trip actually happening, both agreeing that they should invite Sapnap and Bad. As the conversation continued to unpack more and more details, the ' _fun joke_ ' slowly turned into something more serious. To see each other face to face, hang out, and hear each others voices in person instead of through a call. George was obviously a little nervous, never having been on a plane by himself; never having left England before. But he wanted nothing more than to spend a week or two of his summer with friends. Plus, it had been a while since he had been on a trip. 

"So would I go to Florida first? And we drive from there?" George questioned. Dream had taken the time to build a heart out of rose bushes, placing a sign in the middle that said _'george is a simp.'_ It made him scowl. 

"Sure, I could call Bad and Sapnap, they fly down here, and we pick you up from the airport." He watched as brunette's character placed a sign in front of his, and typed out: _'says the guy that built a heart out of roses for me'_ They didn't mention it in the call. 

"Okay so the four of us are going to spend a week in a car...?" George questioned, this is what threw the idea off the most. Dream was quiet for a moment, his character in game frozen as well. George licked his lips, a bad habit of his that he couldn't shake. Four grown men packed into a car for a week? That idea was so horrible, Sapnap was annoying enough without George being crammed right beside him for hours at a time. And Bad was most likely going to bring his dog, only adding to the complications. 

"Well, we could rent an RV?" Dream proposed, yet again. 

"How much are those?" 

"I'm paying for it."

George rolled his eyes. 

"Okay so should we call Sapnap and Bad?"

* * *

George picked at his fingers, biting on them out of nervousness as his plane started to land. The hot Florida sun peeked through the glass of his window, making him groan internally at the thought of how hot it was. He continued to keep his eyes glued on the outside, watching as the plane descended onto the airstrip. He couldn't help but smile to himself a little, he was really about to be face to face with his best friends; and honestly, it's the most excited he's felt in a while. 

As the flight attendant began their regular departure announcements, George clutched his phone, and removed his headphones from his ears. He remembered getting them from the video he did with Dream, he barely had enough money to get them, but Dream, against George's wishes, sent in some extra money so he could buy them. He rolled his eyes at the thought, damn him and his generousness. 

He grabbed his carry-on luggage, and walked off the plane. He grew more and more nervous as he walked throughout the airport, his mind clouded with thoughts. They told him that he would know who they were, and nothing more. He didn't know what that meant, and if it was good or bad. He wondered if they would all be there waiting for him, and thought about making a joke or pretending to not notice them. His mind raced with possibilities and his hands began to sweat as he waited at the baggage claim, pulling his phone out to reveal an unread message from Sapnap:

_sappitus: oh my god george how slow are englands planes_

George scoffed, mentally preparing himself for all of Sapnap's relentless sarcasm. This was only the beginning. 

' _I hope this plane crashes so I never see your ugly face'_

_sappitus: :(_

George looked up from his phone, having made his way to where they said they would pick him up. He tightened his grip on his luggage, nervousness finally settling in. He searched the area, watching the other people being reunited with their loved ones. He didn't see them, they had to be at least somewhat noticeable to not give him any details right? George walked around a little, standing on his tippy-toes. 

"George!"

He spun around, eyes finding three young men, one with a face he didn't recognize, but at the same time did, and he knew exactly who it was. It made him break out in a smile. They all waved around three signs, scribbled in a thick blue ink reading: "We will change your name to "George is found!"", "Over here Georgie!" and finally, just, "Mr. George." So that's what they meant. 

He giggled, his heart pounding in his ears, they all ran up to him in a big group hug, all letting out sounds of excitement. George said his hellos, made some jokes about the signs and how they were idiots. He gave Bad and Sapnap hugs before they offered to take his luggage to the car, leaving Dream and him to finally meet each other. 

"Hi George," Dream spoke up, his hands in his pockets, looking just as nervous as George probably did. The latter turned to him, and just looked at each other for a moment, taking in the others appearance. Dream was a lot taller than he imagined, his teeth straight, and eyes a pale yellow. He was weirdly close to the fan art; and with the blonde hair, he kind of looked like a beach boy. He just smiled, ignoring his feelings of nervousness, and instead wrapped his arms around Dream's torso in a hug. 

Dream let out a sigh, hugging him back, tightening his arms into a firm, but still gentle hug. He sighed, finally getting to have this moment after so long. He knew what George looked like, but it was so nice, and much different, to finally experience him in person. He breathed George in, being content to just hold him for a minute as the rest of the airport faded away. It had been a long wait, could you even blame him? 

George spoke into Dream's shoulder, engulfed by him, and his thoughts slipping as he felt at ease.

"Hi Clay."

* * *

Clay finally packed the last bit of luggage into the RV, the hot and humid Florida air making his forehead bead with sweat. It was really crammed full, mainly with Bad's stuff, but he congratulated himself on a pretty damn job well done. 

"Ewww, so we have to call you Darryl?" Nick drew out the ' _ar'_ in Bad's name. Causing Bad to literally cringe at it. 

"No, _Nick_ , you guys can still call me Bad. That's more normal than ' _Sapnap_ '." 

George giggled, "That's debatable."

Clay opened up the door to the RV, stepping inside to start the AC, they were going to need it if they didn't want to die of heatstroke. They continued to banter over having to get used to using each others real names in person as Clay finished up a few more things inside. 

"Where is Rat going to do his business when we are driving?" Nick asked, Rat walking around the RV, smelling the tires and doing dog things. 

"I can't believe you actually brought Rat," George added. 

"Hey, you muffins be nice to Rat, and she is potty trained Nick, don't worry. Who do you think I am?" He reassured. 

"I don't know man but I'm not cleaning up dog piss, it smells too bad." Nick giggled. 

"I've got everything ready if you guys are ready to go." Clay interrupted, peeking his head out of the window in the passengers seat. The three jumped in, Nick clapping his hands in excitement. The inside of the RV was small, but big enough to be comfortable. It had three beds, a master and two others. It had a fridge, a bathroom, a mini kitchen, and a little table that turned into a bed. It was stuffy, after sitting in the summer air, but was slowly getting cooled off by the AC. They all looked around for a moment as Clay settled in to the driver's seat. 

"Are you sure this was cleaned thoroughly?" Bad asked, opening cabinets and drawers to check if there was anything suspicious.

"Oh my god what if we find treasures like money or something?" Nick spoke up, his voice full of excitement. 

"Sap- I mean, whatever, there are no treasures." Clay stated, 

"But there's something else," Bad said, pulling out a clothing hanger, disgust all over his face. 

The three of them looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. 

"At least Clay is the one that paid for this." He cringed, 

Clay wheezed, "Dude, it's literally a clothing hanger, it's not like it's a dirty diaper or food or something."

George and Nick snickered at the comment, the engine finally revving, and they all found a seat to get comfortable in, Nick starting in the passenger's seat. He put his feet up on the dash, getting comfortable as Clay adjusted his mirrors, mentally preparing himself to drive the thing, his hands gripped the wheel tight. 

"Everyone ready?" He asked

"Have you ever driven one of these before?" George asked, looking at Clay through the rearview mirror. 

"Nope."

And with that, he put it in drive.


	2. Driving Illegally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they do be starting a road trip tho

It wasn't off to a great start. 

Clay was having a hard time adjusting to the driving. The vehicle was obviously a lot bigger than a normal sized one, it didn't have a rearview mirror, and it was hard for him to get used to the brakes, which he quickly came to realize needed to be used way before you were planning on stopping. He had nearly ran at least 4 stop signs, and almost backed into two cars. Nick and George screamed at him every time, yelling ' _Clay!!!_ ', when coming up on a red-light or making a sharp turn. 

They had only been in the car for about an hour, still not too far away from Orlando. George found himself looking out the windows in the back, watching the palms zoom by and people walking around spending their summers in the nice hot air. It was really pretty here, and he wouldn't mind coming back just to stick around in Clay's hometown and see what there was to see. He's sure Clay knew all the best spots, just as George did in England, and found himself wishing he could spend that time with him one day. 

But it was hard for him to steadily look, as he realized every bump Clay went over was magnified by about 8,000% in the RV. And he made sure to glare at Clay through his useless rearview mirror every single bump he went over, making the blonde giggle and wheeze. He would make comments every once in a while, watching Clay in the mirror to see his reaction, he almost always ended up looking up at him, meeting his gaze and winking or something dumb like that. George would only stick his tongue out at him or roll his eyes, or call him an idiot. As he does. 

They were headed onto the interstate, Clay was beginning to pick up his speed and he gripped the wheel with both hands, nervous. Nick had his eyes on his phone, scrolling through social media and his feet still propped up on the dash. 

"Uh...Clay?" Bad said, speaking up from the back. He was holding the RV contract, amongst a handbook and some other useless boring stuff. 

"Yeah?" He responded, speaking quite loudly, as it was hard to hear him over the rattling of the cabinets and such. 

"Did you know you're supposed to be 21 to legally drive an RV?" Bad said, his words coated in worry. 

His eyes widened, ' _Shit_.'

Clay almost instinctively started easing on the break to bring it to a halt, but realized that it was a terrible decision, because he was on the interstate.

Nick and George started screaming, grabbing everything they could to hold on. They stumbled over their words in panic, and filling the RV with panic as well; luggage sliding all around, Rat was barking, and more, 

"Clay oh my **_god_** we're going to _die_!"

"You can't just stop in the middle of the road you idiot! Jesus Christ!"

An eighteen wheeler flew by on his left, causing Clay to jerk his wheel and try to steady himself back into the lane. He was screaming back at the two, Shut up stop yelling I can't see the road when you guys are so loud!" The eighteen wheeler passed boy honking his horn, and Clay did it right back. 

"Oh yeah because you need your ears to _see_ the road!" Nick screamed

Clay was close to pulling over and discontinue the trip entirely, but he knew it was going to get easier, it was just bad timing on Bad's part.

Nick was whining _'We're going to die, we're going to die!'_ over and over again, making Clay wheeze like a tea pot. 

"Nick, get in the back and switch with George, you're making me nervous up here." Clay demanded, making Nick only whine more.

"What the hell. But I was here first." He complained, looking at George with a playful glare. 

"Yeah well, sorry, kids under 13 can't sit in the front seat, so move." George said matter-of-factly. He was smirking at Nick, only making him grumpier. 

He sighed with defeat, and got up, giving his seat to George, who happily plopped in. Nick spoke as he got up, "I hate you guys, you are once again making me be the third wheel. When will the torture end?" He groaned, flopping over into the booth where George had been. Clay rolled his eyes, giving a playful smile to George, who couldn't help but shake his head and smile back.

"Hello, are you guys just going to ignore what I said?" Bad spoke up again, this time holding onto Rat as she licked at his fingers. 

"Bad, we're just going to be driving illegally. It's _fine_." Nick said, dragging out the 'I' in fine, making a 'no -duh' face at Bad, who dropped his mouth open. 

"Okay and what happens when we get pulled over or something?" He said, eyebrows furrowed, Clay shook his head at the idea. 

"Bad, we will be fine, if we get pulled over, which we won't," He reassured, "You and I will just... switch seats." He reasoned, sounding like he was convincing himself that it was going to be okay more than he was anyone else. It made Bad groan and flop onto the bed, Rat following and licking his face. 

Silence filled the vehicle for only a few moments, and those moments were long enough for Nick. 

"Where are we going?" He asked, still looking at his phone. 

Clay thought for a moment before looking at George, "Will you get that map in the door on your side, I'm pretty sure it's over there." 

George silently agreed to, reaching in and grabbing it from the door. He opened it up, it was covered in scribbles, and to a normal person it wouldn't make any sense, but what stood out was a thick red line, which seemed to be the overall direction Clay decided they would go. He tried to show it to him as best he could while making sure he kept his eyes on the road. 

He looked it over before speaking, "Ah, so I planned on stopping at a grocery store later tonight, wherever we get by like 8, and then the plan was to get to Kentucky by tonight." He explained, Nick barely paying attention it seemed. He rolled his eyes, "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah yeah..." Nick said, not convincing Clay.

"Okay next time I'm not telling you. You're such an ass." He snapped back, but Nick interrupted him, 

"Dude, I was paying attention I was just looking up how far away Kentucky was... - _12_ _hours_?!?" He yelled, making George's eyes widen, 

"That means we will get there at like 3am." George deadpanned, making Clay wheeze. 

"It's not that bad guys, and that means we will get to bond, we can talk about our childhoods, and our first kisses, and our favorite colors-" Clay started

"You guys can do that, but I'm gonna take a nap..." He paused, "cause like I'm Sapnap, haha, get it?" He looked at the other two for approval. All he got was silence in return.

"That was so good you guys just don't want to admit it."

* * *

They had been driving for about 5 hours, now reaching the time Clay wanted to stop. They had made it to Atlanta, Georgia. 

Bad and Nick had fallen asleep in the back, getting used to the rumbling of the road and knocking out like babies. Nick has his face pressed up against the window, his mouth hanging open, and Bad was curled up on the bed in the back with Rat. George tried to doze off, but to no avail, and especially because Clay kept drifting over into the rumble strips, which caused the RV to erupt into a loud grumble, and it shook everything. George would get so annoyed, and would look at Clay with this dumbfounded look, as if to say, ' _can you stop doing that_ ,' who only laughed in return. 

Clay had been playing music, letting George pick a few every so often, the two didn't talk much. Not that they didn't want to, but they were comfortable in the silence, listening to the music and just enjoying each others presence. George was on his phone, and would mention some certain social media updates or whatever to Clay every once in a while. But other than that, they just sat in a peaceful silence. 

Soon enough the sun was setting, painting the sky in beautiful shades of orange and purple. Clay couldn't stop himself from stealing glances at George, who had his knees bent and feet on the chair. The sun was peeking through the gaps in the trees, making the brunette this pretty shade of orange, and his eyes an even prettier shade of honey.

The golden light really suited George's pale skin, and every time Clay looked, he would meet George's eyes. The younger wouldn't look too long, wanting to keep his eyes on the road, but he could tell George was embarrassed by it, and probably confused. 

After doing it for like the 5th time, George was over it.

"What?" He asked, his tone was soft, and you could tell he was smiling. 

"Nothing." Clay played dumb,

"You keep looking at me, it's freaking me out." He said, laughing, and Clay started to wheeze, 

"What? Freak you out? Am I creepy to you?" He said in-between wheeze fits. 

George just huffed in disbelief, Clay was going to crash if he kept wheezing like that, "No, but you're just looking at me like you have something to say." 

Clay calmed himself down, looking forward at the pretty sunset. He wished George could see it the way he did, maybe he did have something to say.

"It's just your eyes, they look nice in the sun." He said, being as nonchalant as possible; but keeping a gentleness to his voice. 

George was quiet, The blonde's words making his mind freeze with thoughts or comebacks. He smiled, it wasn't some insane compliment, and Clay had made many more, _way more_ , flirtatious comments like that in the past, but this one, in person, was just different. 

"Thanks, I think yours look nice too?" He said it more like a question, not that he didn't think his eyes probably looked nice, but he hadn't gotten a great look at them. 

Clay only scoffed, "You think?" 

"No, I just can't see them that well. Also, they're like a light-yellow to me." He clarified, making the younger one roll his eyes with a sweet smile. 

"I forgot about that. Anyways, did you have anywhere you wanted to go while you were here?" He changed the subject. 

George hadn't looked at too much, but he googled some stuff to do in the west of America. He had found California stuff, but he was more interested in the outdoors kind of stuff Clay had mentioned in their calls. He ended up saving some photos from places he thought were pretty, and decided that's what he wanted to see. 

"I looked up some stuff, and Yellowstone was like the main one?" He said, making Clay's eyes light up, 

"Yes! I've always wanted to go there. Theres so much wildlife to see and hiking we can do, and yeah like waterfalls and stuff." He said excitedly. George laughed fondly at his enthusiasm, he sounded like a young kid, and it was nice. 

"It's going to take a while to get there, but I know it will be worth it, I mean it's my first time in America, so really anything is cool." He responded. Clay nodded his head. 

"Yeah, it's super nice. You picked a great spot." He gave George a friendly smile, and he returned it, "Hey, could you look up some grocery stores on your map? I wanna stop here before it gets too late." 

George complied, finding a Target.

They came to a stop in the parking lot, Clay turning off the engine and waking up the other two. Bad made the decision that he was going to stay out in the RV, and unpack their bags to try to create more space, not wanting to leave Rat since Target wouldn't let him bring her in. Leaving Nick, George, and Caly to do all of the shopping. 

They went in, Nick grabbing a buggy and slumping over it, still tired from just waking up. George and Clay headed to the personal items first, grabbing some sunscreen and bug spray. The youngest grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste, claiming he 'forgot that at home'.

They grabbed a few more essentials before Nick spotted the condoms, giggling, causing the other two to roll their eyes. 

When they got to the snacks and food, Nick seemed to forget his sleepy-ness, grabbing three different kinds of cereals and bags of assorted candy. Clay let him get whatever he wanted, only saying he had to eat all of it. Nick only responded with, _'Challenge accepted._ ' George laughed, picking out some yogurt and fruit. Earning a ' _Nasty ass breakfast'_ comment from Nick. 

"Clay are you buying everything?" George asked, 

"Yeah, was planning on it." He responded

"I'll help you pay, you rented the RV and you're driving and paying for gas. You don't need to pay for all of this junk Nick's getting."

Nick scoffed. 

"It's okay George, I got it, I saved up for the trip." He finished. George left it at that, not wanting to argue, because with him you would for a while.

They grabbed some microwave dinners and some ingredients to make food if they wanted as well. The buggy had found itself almost full, and the boys were running out of things that they needed.

George was looking around the store before spotting a Minecraft section mixed in amongst the bedding. There were other themed bed sets, most he didn't recognize. But when he came across some Minecraft pillows is when he decided he had to call Clay over. 

"Look at this Cow! It's a dandelion cow! Are they going to add this in the game?" He asked, holding up a big stuffed animal Minecraft cow. It was yellow, and had dandelions coming out of its back. Clay laughed as he looked at it, 

"I don't know for sure, also it's called a Moobloom." He said, holding up some of the other plushies. There were bees, ghasts, creepers and zombies as well. George started to put the cow back before Clay grabbed it and put it in the buggy. 

"Are you going to buy it?" He asked, his eyes silently begging he wouldn't, because George really wanted the cow. 

"Yeah, you seemed like you really liked it." Clay responded. 

' _Oh'_ , George thought. 

"You aren't buying that for me," George started, grabbing the cow to put it back. 

Clay grabbed his wrist gently, and spoke with sincerity in his voice, "No, let me, it's a gift, from me to you, to celebrate your first time in America."

George physically stuttered at the contact, looking at Clay, trying to get the willpower to keep fighting him on buying the stupid cow, but he actually really wanted it, and if Clay wanted to give it to him it would make it even more special. 

"Okay fine. Just because I really want it." George said, a smile on his lips. Clay smiled with his teeth, all shiny and white, before letting go and continuing to push the buggy back to where they were, finding Nick, who was grabbing various packs of instant coffees, and heading to the checkout line. 

The total came out to about 250 dollars, and Nick felt so bad for getting so much stuff he gave Clay 50 bucks, and the latter didn't even try to fight him, seeing as half of the food he was buying was stuff the youngest had picked out. George also gave him 50 bucks, insisting he take it, and not wanting to fight in the checkout line, decided he would take it. 

They headed back out to the RV, George clutching the Moobloom, which Nick said should be named, 'Lucas'. It was horrible and he wasn't going to name it that, but unfortunately it was starting to stick as Clay kept using it as they walked to the RV. 

Bad had all the doors open, including the luggage compartment underneath. Rat was running around sniffing things, and started to bark as the three headed towards them. 

Bad came out, looking at them and then, more importantly, the shopping cart full of groceries. 

"Did you guys get enough?" He asked, breathless. 

"Yeah, have you almost finished?" George responded, 

"Actually yes, and we're ready to go, I just have a few more things and obviously, those groceries. Who is the new friend?" He asked, gesturing to the cow in George's arms. 

"His name is Lucas." Nick started, but was quickly shut down by George, 

"It's not Lucas, it's unnamed and he paid for it." George admitted, pointing to Clay, who stuffed his hands in his hoodie. 

"How cute, and Lucas is a fitting name. Welcome to the family Lucas." Bad said, laughing and starting to unload the groceries. 

George rolled his eyes at the stupid name one more time, watching as Clay shook his head at him and his new cow child, a sweet smile on his face. 

He smiled back. 

* * *

It was 2am, George and Clay had been up, just listening to music, Nick and Bad had fallen asleep side by side in the bed in the back, backs facing each other and long gone into their slumber. Clay had played quiet music over the radio, and George was curled up in a blanket in the passengers seat, he was used to being up this late talking to Clay when playing on MC, so he wasn't too tired. He was comfortable, his hair falling into his eyes instead of brushed over to the side. Clay was awake as well, aside from the occasional yawn, he seemed to be doing fine, denying any offers of driving that George would make. 

The moon was bright as they drove on the interstate, passing people from time to time, but mainly alone on the road. Although you couldn't see much, you could catch an occasional road sign, saying something about a burger joint, casino, or some sign related to religion. One that made George laugh in particular was one that said, _'Repent for his love before you Regret not accepting his love.'_

Clay would look over occasionally, the act becoming a regular thing. And noticed that George's eyes would get glossy and how they would fall every once in a while. It brought a sweet smile to his face. 

Everything went well, and they were all tired, but soon enough they had made it to the RV park, Clay thanking them for letting them come in so late. They checked in, doing his best to plug everything up, and George did his best to help. George helped the younger unfold the table and make it into a bed, and he helped him set it up as well, being able to reach it better, and reaching over George's head to set up the mattress. George scowled at his tallness. 

Eventually they said their goodnights, Clay taking the smaller bed cause he's just like that, and dozed off to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jeez you guys, I had written almost the entire chapter, and then I open my computer this afternoon and it was gone. but I re-wrote it and I think I like it better now. anyways, enjoy, next update will be on Sunday or Monday, yes, I have a schedule LOL  
> okay, thank you for the kudos! cya in the next chapter  
> also  
> so basically they are on YouTube, but its kinda like in their earlier days, not the current YouTube status, so they have a platform but its like dream before 1mil lol  
> yeah that's how 'famous' they are.  
> ill edit this later sorry for spelling


	3. Burnt Quesadilla

The next morning arrived, the warm Kentucky air peering through the curtains of the RV. Nick and Bad had slightly woken up, groggy from the bumpy ride. They laid in bed still, their faces buried under covers and pillows. George hadn't slept long, awake and on his phone. He noticed Clay curled up on the makeshift bed, definitely too tall for it, his blanket wrapped tight around his body.

George felt a twinge of guilt, he should have really insisted he take the smaller bed, and the one up above that he had slept in had much more room.

George looked at his phone, the cracked screen reading "08:21". He ran his hands through his hair, sighing deeply, and deciding to get up and go look outside for some fresh air. He normally would climb down by stepping on the bed Clay was asleep on, but decided not to, not wanting to wake him up. He climbed down as quietly as he could, his feet hitting the floor, with a thud; and gently unlatched the lock on the door.

The sun was blinding, and the air warm, contrasting the dark, and frigid air of the air conditioned RV. He gently shut the door, breathing in, squinting at the change in brightness. His eyes eventually adjusted and he looked around at the RV park, watching as some people sat outside their campers, noting that they were all much nicer than their own RV. He watched as some people walked their dogs, smiling at them awkwardly. Across from them, an old man sat, eating something in his hand.

George stretched, his shirt riding up, realizing he didn't change, still wearing yesterdays clothes. He couldn't help but yawn, recalling how late they had got in, and now only having to face another day, after about 5 hours of sleep.

The birds reminded him of home, and how they would unwillingly wake George up sometimes, he didn't really like birds, or the noises to be frank. But they seemed to fit the scenery perfectly, like a movie scene; no matter how annoying they were. 

He stood there alone for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of morning, his thoughts slowly flowing in as he awoke. It didn't last too long, being eventually disturbed by the sound of the screen door opening, revealing Clay walking out in a wrinkly shirt and shorts, rubbing his eyes with one hand; his arm stretching over his head to reveal a little skin around his waist. George turned around briefly to look, only turning back around after seeing who it was, taking in how sleepy he looked.

It was like a little kid honestly, the kind where you could just ruffle his hair. Clay bumped him with his shoulder as he walked by, stopping to stand so their shoulders brushed.

George looked up at him, his long yellow-ish hair hanging in his face, his skin looking especially smooth and tan in the sun. The blonde stretched again, yawning as he mumbled a quiet, _'Hey,'_ To the other. George couldn't help but smile as he watched him. His voice sounded like it was still submerged in his sleep, deep and tired.

"Hey." He said back, recalling how they had met at the airport and it sort-of going like this, "Did you sleep okay?" 

Clay grinned, white teeth showing as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorta, you?"

George smiled, as the other's eyes met his in a tired gaze, "Yeah, I told you, you should have taken my bed." He bumped Clay lightly with his shoulder.

"Yeah well, I was trying to be polite... but maybe I do need the bigger one." He chuckled, bumping him back. 

They didn't say anything for a minute, basking in the sunlight as it warmed up their skin, George could feel the blades of grass tickle his feet, dewy, and soft. Clay's shoulder was also soft, broad, and comforting. Clay was, in general, comforting.

Unlike when doing a manhunt, George felt safe, even soothed by his presence. He could feel Clay's eyes on him for a moment, but he decided to only look down at his toes, shifting slightly under his gaze, and trying to pretend he didn't notice either. 

"How do you like your coffee?" Clay cleared his throat. His eyes still on the shorter boy.

"Uh... honestly I've never had it and liked it. Are you making some?" He responded, finally meeting Clay's pale yellow eyes, and George could only think, even if he is colorblind, he still has some nice eyes. 

"No. I was just asking to know. For general knowledge. No plans." Clay deadpanned, his voice full of sarcasm; making George scowl.

"You're really an idiot. That wasn't even a good comeback." George groaned out, making Clay begin to wheeze, but only following up with coughs. George crossed his arms, rolling his eyes at the other boy.

Clay scuffed the brunettes side with his own, "I forget, you like tea, because you're British right?" He said teasingly, making George look at him with such hatred in his eyes. 

"Go make your nasty bean water." George said, his eyes narrowed at the younger boy, who wheezed in response.

He nudged him on the way back into the RV; muttering a quiet, _'Bean water.'_ And ran into Bad and Rat as he walked back in. Rat immediately dashed out of the door as soon as Clay opened it, looking up at Bad for approval, who barely paid the action much attention; the only response he heard from anyone was a scared yelp from George outside. 

Nick was still splayed out on the bed, face in the pillow, mouth wide open. Clay couldn't help but chuckle at the visual. He should definitely get a picture of it. He maneuvered his way around Bad, who was trying his best to light the gas stove; struggling to work the fire and the gas in a way that it would ignite.

Clay did his best to help him, and with both forces combined, eventually figured it out. Clay filled the coffee maker with water, and put one of the Keurig coffee cup things that Nick had picked out in the machine.

As it filled up, Bad made some scrambled eggs, making them with ease, and put them on a plate. It made the RV smell like eggs, a bit nostalgic of those times when your parents would make you breakfast. He called for George to come in and get food, who did just that, with Rat following suit. Clay took it as his sign to wake up Nick. 

"Hey," he nudged Nick, "Wake up little guy," He said, using a teasing baby voice, which only caused snickers from the other two. Bad even seemed to start hiccuping on his eggs. Nick only grumbled in response, 

"Awe come on Nicky, don't you want some eggy-weggies?" Clay cooed, making Nick speak up,

"Did you just fucking say eggy _weggies?"_ His eyes still closed, but face twisted in disgust, not bothering to even look at the monstrosity he called a friend in front of him. 

"Ignore that, he called you Nicky." Bad giggled, looking over at George who was laughing with a mouthful of food, causing himself to drool.

Everyone erupted into giggles and drawn out _'Eww's'_ as they watched George make a mess of himself. Clay grabbed some paper towels for the older boy, doing his best to help him out and encourage him to control himself. 

They finished up their breakfasts, Nick and Clay had indulged in their coffee's, and George offered to do the dishes. Bad decided he was going to give driving a go, listening to Clay as he taught him some things to know about driving the RV. They unplugged from the water and electricity, and plumbing, and started to head off. 

"Dude, the toilet is freaking weird, it's like risen up like a throne." Nick said, closing the door to the bathroom, settling in what was Clay's bed from the night before, sitting with his knees criss cross apple sauce. Clay was sitting in the bed that Nick and Bad had slept on the night before, watching through the front window as Bad eased out of the RV park. 

"I noticed that, what's the point of having it up like that?" George responded, craning his head over the back of his seat to look at Nick, who was eating some grapes. 

"I don't know, but it's stupid." He said, biting into some grapes. Bad gripped the wheel tight as he slowly backed up into the rocky path; George grabbed the overhead handle for extra safety.

"Also, I thought these grapes were seedless. How can I live eating around these seeds..." Nick grumbled, causing a few eye rolls. 

* * *

It was about 1:45 in the afternoon, Clay had gotten a little more sleep in the back, and Nick had his headphones in, looking out the window like he was in a drama movie. Leaving Bad and George to talk to one another, George held Rat in his lap, talking to Bad about various things, occasionally pointing out billboard they would pass in Kentucky, amongst other things like casinos and restaurants.

And although the conversation started with, ' _How do you like America so far?'_ It had drifted into a little deeper of a subject. 

"So, were you excited to meet us in person?" Bad asked, his eyes glued on the road, sunglasses perched on his nose. 

George was stroking Rat's back, she slept peacefully in his lap, "Yeah actually, I was kind of nervous at first, but I'm so glad I decided to come." He looked down at the pup, smiling in contentment. Thinking about the journey thus far, and what was to come. 

Bad noticed this, smirking slightly, "What about Clay?" He finished, his voice was fairly innocent, with no true intent. 

"What about him?" George asked, a little embarrassed by the question, not understanding the full meaning of it.

"I don't know, nothing in particular..." Bad trailed off, "Were you excited to meet him?

George thought for a moment, "Yeah, I was... I mean he's my best friend."

"What, Nick isn't your best friend?" He asked. They both looked back to see him head-banging to a song. 

"No he is. I don't know, they're different. You're also my best friend." George defended.

Bad smiled, "Awe, thank you George." 

George rolled his eyes with a smile. No matter what, Badboyhalo seemed to radiate heart eyes and uwu's. "Was there a specific answer you were looking for."

Bad shrugged, and it irritated George. 

Bad didn't push the topic, "Okay. So- anyways, do you know how to work this GPS?" He trailed off, leaving it at that. 

After another minute of discussing the directions, they fell into a comfortable silence. George began to think about what Bad had asked, wondering if there was something to notice. He wasn't dumb, and he would tell the true intent behind the question. It made him overthink the way he had interacted with Clay thus far. 

He silently wished Bad didn't ask, as it confused him. He had been confused by Clay, or Dream for a long time. He tried not to overthink his romantic gestures in game, or even on call. But what struck George the most was the fact that he wouldn't even be bothered if there was a different intent to the blonde's actions. Truthfully, he probably normally wouldn't think about it at all, but now he couldn't get the thought off of his mind. 

* * *

A few hours had passed, Clay had woken up, they had stopped to eat, and now George was sitting on the couch area, having traded spots with Nick.

They had gotten McDonalds, Nick had obviously gotten chicken nuggets, claiming that he was, _'A pure, innocent. adorable child that needed to be catered to and treated as such.'_

Clay was seated beside George, sipping on his drink and pulling his phone out. They had made it to Illinois, halfway to their stop for the night in Iowa. Bad was still driving, playing old pop music on the radio, occasionally jamming out to them with Nick. The two would smile at them from time to time, watching as they would throw their hands around in funny gestures, or flipping their heads in dramatic ways, it looked like a scene from a teenager movie. So cliche and, gross. But endearing nonetheless. 

Clay had his long, tan legs stretched out in front of him, contrasting the dark blue of his basketball shorts. He sat himself close to George, but maintained a respectful distance. He held his phone in a way George could see his screen before asking, "Wanna play some pocket edition?" 

George looked at him, the blonde had asked having pulled up the app already, but he nodded anyways, agreeing, licking his lips. 

They struggled to play, their big fingers having a hard time with the little arrows. They couldn't play in the game together, but they had challenged each other to see who could speedrun the game the fastest. They had died many of times, from lack of experience on the phone.

But George especially couldn't, only being able to focus on the fact that Clay had bent the knee that was closest to George, and was occasionally bumping his own with it. I

t was driving him crazy, that he was doing it, and he couldn't get his earlier conversation out of his head either. Once again wishing Bad hadn't made him aware of things like that. Normally, he wouldn't be so hyper-focused on it; yet he would dwell on it later. 

They were doing random tasks in the game, George would find a village and loot the chests, and there would come a ' _Bump_ ' from Clay. Clay would find a bunch of cows in a field for food, and there would be another ' _Bump_.' 

But what bothered him most was the fact that it was bothering him. If Clay was just his friend, it shouldn't bother him, and that hole that had been dug earlier shouldn't be there.

But then George was killing the iron golem, receiving another ' _Bump_ '.

He fell off of his tower, running from his enemy.

And George sighed as Clay bumped him again, it was the tiniest of gestures, yet, that little bit of touch had set him off. 

It wasn't making sense, and oh god, Clay was finally just resting his knee on George's.

"George, you're going to lose, I'm killing these blaze, you aren't even in the nether." He said, a teasing, menacing smile on his face, showing his teeth, but George couldn't find himself in the headspace to care, suddenly becoming the slightest bit overwhelmed. He needed to space himself from this, deciding to move his body to lean against the back of the driver's seat, so instead of being beside Clay, he was facing Clay's side. Clay watched him move, a twinge of confusion on his face. George quickly provided an explanation.

"Stop looking at my screen, you cheater!" George exclaimed, tapping away on his screen to try and recover the ground he lost. 

They were no longer touching knees, and George could focus on his game, embarrassed that such a little action had gotten him so worked up. And George knew he made it all weird. He started to overthink it all, probably now having made Clay upset that he moved. They were friends, and it's not weird, it's not supposed to be awkward. It's not supposed to be confusing. 

However George noticed that his leg felt cold. 

* * *

It was late, but they had made it to Iowa, Clay had switched out with Bad around 10:00 PM. They had all made up a "Bed Shifts" or as Nick liked to call it, the, 'cuddly buddy system', because he said stuff like that. Tonight, George and Bad got the bed, and Clay and Nick got the other two. They had stopped in a nice, quiet RV park, and decided last minute they were going to make some quesadillas, noting the last time they ate was around 1 or 2. 

However it became apparent that cooking in a tiny 25 foot space was truly chaotic, a lot of in resulting in screams from Nick most of the time; yelling that _'The RV was going to get set on fire,_ ' or that, _'You're burning all of the shit George!_ ' Making Bad retaliate, trying to help, and George yell right back at Nick, cussing and yelling that he _'Couldn't do any better, just shut the hell up you're making it harder!'_

And of course, throughout all of this, Clay was a human teapot, doubling over and barely able to hold himself up. 

It was a mess of arms, spatulas, and cooking spray, and George had about had enough. Nick was screaming so much the rest of them were scared to get kicked out of the park, seeing as it was supposed to be "Quiet Time" after 9 PM. Bad was trying to delegate specific jobs, but to no avail, and probably only adding to the chaos: holding out plates and sprinkling the cheese on the tortillas. Whereas George was just trying to create his supper and move on, but it was proving to not be working too well. 

With enough hassling, and enough cheese having ended up on the ground, eventually 4, slightly burnt, or undercooked cheese quesadillas had been created. There was a cheap smell in the RV, ' _Not too pleasant, but not the worst_ '; they settled for. They ate in peace, the first bit of peace since arriving; sitting in a circle on the floor, deciding that was good enough for now, and since every other surface had been covered in other objects, it really left them no choice. 

"God, I was so hungry," Nick said, mouth full of food. 

George looked up, "Can't you chew first," he scoffed, grossed out, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Sorry Georgie," He smacked loudly, "What was that?" Nick replied, dragging out the 'A' in 'that', revealing a mouthful of chewed food. 

George gagged, looking away and covering his face with his arm. Clay started to laugh, but only started to choke on his current bite. 

"That's vile." Bad stated, agreeing with George. 

"Can I please enjoy my food that George oh-so-graciously burned for me? Without you guys insulting me?" Nick said, giving a cheerful smile to George, who only scowled.

The rest of their meal, if it could even be called that, went the same. Little bits of bickering now and then, but eventually, it was all eaten, cleaned up, and now it was time for all four boys to get settled into bed.

Bad and George plugged up their phones, George tweeting out something about how gross Nick, in this case Sapnap, could be, only causing a slight uproar among their small audience. Wondering how he knew this, or for what reason he would say something like that anyways. He wondered what he got himself into. 

Bad was outside of the camper, taking Rat on a small walk, and Nick had already settled into the smaller couch bed, plugging his headphones into his ear. Leaving George and Clay to get ready to go to bed alone. They were silent for a little bit, not saying much, just sliding past one another to get into the bathroom, the sink, or the mirror. But a few minutes later, Clay broke the silence. 

"Hey can I borrow some toothpaste?" He asked, peeking his head around the small corner of the mirror, it was near the back of the RV, right in front of the bathroom door. There wasn't tons of space in this small corner, and in fact, George remembered Clay hitting his head earlier on the roof. 

"Am I the only responsible one here? First Nick, now you?" George said teasingly, handing Clay his toothpaste. Their eyes briefly connected, and George noticed just how close Clay had leaned into his space, and instinctively backed up a little bit. 

Clay took the toothpaste, and with a small smile said, "Thanks." 

George almost cringed at how he backed up. A part of him not even wanting to do it in the first place. 

The rest of the night was uneventful, they turned on the AC, changed into their respectful sleeping clothes, the lights went off, and they all settled into their own individual beds. George was up against the far, back corner wall of the RV, back facing Bad, who hugged Rat in his arms. And surprisingly pretty quickly, the RV fell into a silence. 

George found himself having a hard time not thinking about the boy a few feet away from him though, and as he closed his eyes, he felt his body go cold with uneasiness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hallo  
> I tried to get this out before tomorrow LOL but it didn't work, sorry for taking a week, im working at a new job and im busy, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten
> 
> this chapter and the next is mainly going to be filler kinda chapters, not much can happen, but when they get to their places it will get more eventful I think  
> anyways  
> thank you guys so much for the nice comments. you have no idea how much they brighten my day askdnajsba
> 
> love you <3 stay strong!


	4. Pimple Tire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness, I am very very sorry for the lack in updates. I 100% will be shocked if people still read this. I needed to update, and I was so inspired to write after binge reading heatwaves. It's been a busy few months.

The RV rumbled down the tough asphalt, causing a continuous shake and grumble inside the vehicle. If it weren't from overwhelming exhaustion, the boys inside would probably not normally be able to sleep in such conditions. But fatigue hit them like a truck, especially after viewing the boring outstretch of plains for the past few hours. 

Clay was the only one left awake, driving aimlessly down the road. He had his own personal playlist on the radio. It left a melancholy feeling inside as rays of sun hit his face, the gold in his hair shining especially bright. Nick was asleep next to him in the passenger seat, his mouth hanging open in a not-so-attractive style; it left a smile on Clay's face every-time he glanced over. He even took a photo to upload to social media later. 

George had fallen asleep in what could be awarded the most uncomfortable looking position the blonde had ever seen. It filled him with a motherly instinct to want to move him. But he was much more content with looking back and seeing his drowsy expression take over his features. He tried not to stare, but you couldn't really help yourself with George. As much as it hurt to see him sat almost upright with his head leaning on his own shoulder.

Clay wouldn't mind to be that shoulder,

_What?_

As a friend. Duh.

His thought process was disturbed by an unfamiliar, but rhythmic, bumping on his left side. It didn't immediately worry him, but as the miles went on it became more and more noticeable. He checked his GPS, the nearest exist another 14 miles. He bet he could make it. But as it grew more bumpy and disturbing it started waking up his friends one by one.

George sat up very suddenly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, smacking his dry mouth. 

"Clay what's the bumping all about?" He started to stand to walk closer to the front of the RV, but promptly sat back down in fear of falling over. 

"I don't know, I was going to wait until the next exit to check it out." 

George peered warily, "I don't know," He scrunched his brow, "That doesn't seem safe."

Clay smirked, "Is anything I do safe?"

George rolled his eyes, "Okay but I'm not usually in the crossfire. I don't wanna die like this."

Clay wheezed, "You're not going to die... maybe wreck, but even then we won't."

"You sure know how to comfort somebody don't you?" George carefully walked over, falling down into the seat behind Clay who responded with an _'Oh yeah.'_

George stared at him through the rearview mirror for a moment, ignoring the danger around them. Taking in how he looked with the sun hitting his tan Florida skin, he noticed something he hadn't before. 

"You have freckles." 

Clay smiled faintly, a little taken aback by the comment, "Not really..."

He made brief eye contact with George, not wanting to look away from the road for too long. But it was long enough to make Clay grip the steering wheel a little harder, make George think a little harder. 

They weren't too noticeable normally, very faint brown, blending into his skin. It peppered his cheeks like bits of sprinkles on a sweet or pastry. George wouldn't have guessed he had them. He didn't know what to expect really upon seeing him for the first time. 

"Th-they look...nice." He stated. 

Silence fell for a second, "I can tell how badly that hurt you to say, jesus." Clay giggled, letting a breath out. A breath he was holding, apparently.

George rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and looking away. "Sorry I can't effortlessly spit out compliments like you do."

"It's pretty effortless when you believe it to be true." He responded, his tone a little softer. 

George was surprised by this comment- 

"Yo what the fuck is that bumping?" Nick interrupted, his eyes still closed, eyebrows raised and voice hoarse. 

"Not sure yet," The driver responded. 

"That sounds promising." The younger sassily snapped back. 

**12 Miles left to the next exit.**

"I'm sure it's fine Sap." The bumping of the RV countered his argument by sharply waking Bad up. 

Nick sat up fully in his seat, his voice laced with concern, "Clay you gotta pull over, what if our tire is going to explode or something?!" 

George giggled, but didn't get a chance to speak before Bad interjected, "I'm with Nick, It's better to check then get stuck in the middle of nowhere."

With all four members of the expedition awake, and concerned, Clay gave in and came to a slow, turning on his hazard lights. He pulled over, wincing as the bumpy part of the road caused a horrifying noise. He put the vehicle in park, taking note of the obvious incline from the left side. He turned the whole thing off for a moment, saving gas as it was expensive, and looked back at the two in the back. 

"Okay I'll check it out, if something is wrong look for some people to fix it somewhere." He checked the road before opening his door, Nick sliding over to go out with him. Bad and George stayed inside. 

"I'll look for some automotive places nearby." Bad sighed, "There's no way something isn't wrong, look at how slanted we are." He pet rat on her back as she sat in his lap.

George also let out a sigh, pulling his phone out to see a 'No Service' symbol at the top of the screen. He dropped it to his side. 

"We are so _fucked!!_ " Nick's voice screamed outside. The brit's eyes widened, cautiously getting out of his seat to go out the side door. 

He slipped on a random pair of shoes laid across the floor, being followed by Bad, who held the dog safely in his arms in fear of her running into traffic. 

They walked out into the hot air, who knew where they were really besides Clay, but it was ugly. The air smelled of animal poop and the view wasn't pretty to be short, just flat farmland that seemed to go on for miles. George scowled at the smell, hearing Bad gag behind him. 

Clay was running a hand through his hair as he looked at the back left tire. Nick was sat beside it, his head hanging back and feet stretched out in front of him. 

The tire wasn't flat, instead it had an entire area that had swollen up like a pimple. The boys had seen nothing like it before. 

"I have no idea what to even make of this." Clay shook his head in defeat.

"We die, that't what. We die in this hot, poop air." Nick groaned. He sounded like a character in a movie, George giggled at it despite the situation. 

Bad spoke up, "Well there's an automotive place near, about two exits from here. Why don't you call them and ask what you should do?"

"Yeah, I mean it was riding fine, a little bumpy but fine." Clay responded. He took the phone from Bad, who walked to the opposite side to let Rat ' _potty_ ' as he claimed. 

George stood next to Clay, who held the arm that held the phone up to his ear. He gave George a look that said, _'God, this really sucks. But wish me luck with this'_

The older noticed a sweat form on his forehead, and how his biceps looked a bit larger when his arm folded up.

"George, you have to be my first kiss. I can't die without a first kiss." Nick pleaded, looking up at the offended brunette with a fake damsel in distress gaze. 

"You're such a dumbass. You're going to die sad and alone."

Sapnap pouted, "Georgie please... take my hand..." He whined, holding his hand out.

George sighed before taking his hand, watching as Clay plugged his ear to talk to the guy on the phone. Cars zipped along behind him, loud and horrifying. It almost made him nervous how close to the road he was. He did his best to listen to the younger explain the situation as Nick droned on with a dramatic ' _last day on earth speech'_ Clay would give him a little half smile every few seconds, reminding him of how he would call his mom if he were in trouble. It was cute.

_Cute?_

"Are you done yet," George returned his attention to the sorry lad on the ground. 

"I still have everyone from my graduating class to thank." Nick glared, angry he was interrupted. 

Bad walked back around as Clay was finishing up his call, handing the phone back to him. He brought everyone back inside of the RV, letting it run to cool down and so he could be heard a little better. 

"So, they said we can drive on it, but not over 40 miles." Clay announced, looking at the others for a response. 

"Like 40 miles total or 40 miles slow." Nick asked,

"40 miles is slow or fast depending on how you look at it." Bad responded, voice laced with sincerity. "You know, the jar is half empty half full kind of thing." 

George just looked at the wall, completely over everything happening. America was such a mess.

Clay had to wheeze before answering Nick's question. "40 miles speed-wise. It's not too far so we should be fine."

"You said that before you checked the tire, look where we are with that." George deadpanned, leaving Clay without a response. 

"I am cool with this on the one condition that someone kisses me, I can't die a kiss-virgin." Nick declared. Everyone in the RV made a noise like groaning and giggling at the same time. 

Nobody volunteered, surprisingly.

"Rat can give you a smooch before you go out?" Bad proposed. 

Nick glared at Rat, who seemed to glare back. 

"Fair enough. Let's do this."

* * *

Needless to say, they had made it safely. Nick had screamed most of the way, as Sapnap/Nick tends to do. And it resulted in Rat barking at him, George threatening him, Clay teasing George, and Bad trying to break everything up and return the peace. And of course, the entire time the RV was tipping back and forth like a drunk man trying to make his way home. But they eventually made it despite the chaos that often ensues with the group. 

They just needed a simple tire change, and the RV company said they would cover the cost after talking to Clay. The only problem was that Clay was going to have to drive up until at least 4am to get to the site they were headed to. George sat beside him inside the shop while Bad and Nick stretched their legs and took Rat for a walk. 

George was sitting on his hands, swinging his legs and scraping his feet on the concrete floor. The men working on the RV all had beards and looked super tough. It was honestly super intimidating, and he was glad he wasn't here by himself. As awkward as he was. 

He looked at Clay, who was pretty engrossed in his phone.

"Hey."

Clay looked up, "Hi?" He watched as George looked up like he was thinking hard about something. 

"Wanna play thumb war?" George asked, his head tilting to the side like a puppy, it made Clay's heart melt a little. He couldn't resist, plus, he knew he had no service and was probably bored. 

He didn't respond, instead held his hand out like a handshake. George eyed it, realizing he hadn't really touched Clay. He thought about it a lot when they played minecraft together, what he would do when they finally got to meet. He knew they would hug, but he wondered if Clay was a touchy person, or if Clay would want to touch him. This was the first step into it all, and it felt foreign. 

George took his hand, and Clay couldn't resist immediately blurting out, "You're hands are so soft..." It made George smile. He was surprised, not been told that before.

"They are?" He noticed Clay turned their hands over, looking at the backside. 

"Yeah, you must use a lot of lotion," He winks.

George's whole expression fell into one of sarcasm, one Clay was used to seeing, "Never-mind. I don't want to play anymore. You're inappropriate." He crossed his arms.

Clay wheezed, holding his stomach as George turned away "I was joking, come on, lets go," He tugged at George's bicep. 

George squinted at him, "No, your hands are too rough anyways." 

Clay drew back in offense, fake gasping. 

"You just don't want to lose." He knew how to get to him. And of course it did, Clay was competitive, but George could be too. George just knew when to give up, but when it came to Clay he didn't like to lose. He wanted to prove he could do what he did. Clay just did everything with ease, and it felt nice to beat him at his own game sometimes. 

So George turned to him, triumphantly taking the younger ones hand in his own again. Clay really thought his hands were very soft. 

They both recited the thumb war chant, before shyly sticking their thumbs in the air, waiting for someone to make the first move. Clay wouldn't attack, instead he would dodge George, he could tell when he was planning on going for him because of the slight squeeze in his hand.

His eyes drifted up to see George's focused completely on the game. He was biting on his lip, and it made a warm feeling pool in him, his attention no longer directed at the objective. He pulled his thumb back, too far for George to properly reach.

"Why aren't you attacking?!" George snapped, looking up for the slightest second, and looking back up once he realized Clay was looking at him. 

George was confused by it, looking defensive and raising a brow. But they didn't say anything, instead Clay dug his nails into the inside of George's palm, swiftly moving to catch his thumb underneath his. 

"What the hell?" George returned his attention to the game, protesting as Clay laughed and pressed harder onto George's thumb. 

"That's definitely cheating." George argued, Clay was still giggling like the shit he was. 

"How?" He questioned, knowing exactly what. 

George rolled his eyes, "Don't be dumb." But a smile tugged the corners of his mouth. 

"I would never." 

Clay's voice was always laced with something. Whether they were streaming to their small audience, recording a video, or coding for a video, he always had a different meaning behind everything he said. It was seldom he was genuine about most things. He was so used to being sarcastic, and the endless flirting as well. Then the times he would log off with barely having said anything. George could barely figure him out, not being able to see the look on his face when he spoke or know his true tone. It was so confusing, he could hide it so well. 

George would pride himself in sensing the true meaning of his words, or unmasking his true emotions. Whether Clay liked to admit it or not, he was lonely, and you could feel the affects of it weigh on him sometimes. 

He wondered if Clay read him like he did Clay. What he didn't know was Clay was happiest he had been in a long time here, playing a game with George he would have in his younger days in high school. 

They played a few more games, not really wanting to let each others hands go. But eventually decided to watch some tv show playing in the shop, just enjoying the silence, and presence of each other. Being happy to just be together in person. 

* * *

The tire had been replaced, and the workers had been tipped generously by each of the young men. They had loaded up, it now being about 8pm, and they had gotten hungry. They had chosen a burger place per request of Nick, not that there were many options to choose from; and they were finally ready to head off toward their destination. 

George sat in the passenger seat this time, calling it before Nick could again; but the younger didn't mind as he was fully engrossed in his meal. 

Bad had offered to drive, so that Clay could eat, but they decided Clay would drive and Bad would feed him. Being the mom Bad is, he needs to _'take care of his children.'_

"What time are we supposed to be getting wherever we are going?" George questioned, mouth full of a good ol' American burger. 

Clay winced, "About that..." 

Bad sighed, "Eat another fry."

Clay opened his mouth, graciously accepting another fry, which didn't have enough ketchup in his opinion.

"About 4am? 3am if I'm good with time." 

Nick choked. 

"Are you kidding me? How are we going to get to sleep?"

Clay scoffed, "Uh, don't you mean when am _I_ going to get to sleep??" 

George giggled, covering his mouth with his hand. 

Nick shook his head, "This is abuse. I'm still a minor." 

Bad scrunched his face up, "No you aren't..."

Clay motioned to Bad for a drink, who willingly brought the soda up to his mouth, careful not to disturb his view of the road. 

"I could be though. The authorities wouldn't know if I decided to give them a call." Nick retorted very pompously. 

Clay swallowed his drink, "You are such a moron, you know?" He let out a burp. Bad blessed him. 

* * *

They bantered on for a bit more, Bad gathered everyone's trash before settling down in the back. Nick had gotten a game out on his phone and had assumed position in the top bunk, which sat on top of where Clay and George were. Silence had filled the RV temporarily, everyone still awake but quietly busying themselves with other things. 

George would glance around every so often, looking at Clay's GPS which read an absurd amount of miles that needed to be made before the morning. 

It was about to be a long night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm going to try and put up another chapter, either tonight or later tomorrow.  
> also i realized I may have been a tiny bit slow with the whole dreamnotfound thing, so I kinda tried to include more of them here.
> 
> My main reason for not writing was with a lot of drama between the fandom, i noticed a lot of people were having issues with the dream, and dreamnotfound fans, and on top of that i was busy with college classes and my job. i decided to give myself a little break and not worry about it. I also didnt really know what to do, i didnt want to make the CC's upset or uncomfortable.
> 
> also i was going through the process of acquiring a significant other???? o-o so that was a wild ride. 
> 
> im so sorry for everyone that waited, and once again if people actually read this that will surprise me. 
> 
> thank you guys, i think i may be putting out a one shot eventually separate from this one?
> 
> your comments were and have been so sweet, ugh i cant believe people understand my scattered writing, and like it???
> 
> <3


	5. Spiderweb Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> storms a' brewin.

George glanced at the clock on the dash, it read '12:42'. It would be '0:42' For him though. He had rested a little, waking up to see Clay with one hand on the wheel, other propped up to hold his head. He looked tired, really tired. But it looked like this wasn't his first time being up so late. He knew it too, he had stayed up late with him before, into the late hours of his nights, even though it wouldn't be late to George.

He fondly recalled times when Nick would leave their calls, leaving them by themselves to continue to do whatever, most late nights would result in Clay just following George's avatar around and not really contributing anything important, mainly just messing with him. But sometimes it was just to talk. He thought about one call they had where Clay had left the game but stayed on discord. 

-

_"Dream, you took my tools offline with you," George reacted_

_Dream would chuckle, "It's fine, I'll give it to you in the morning."_

_"It's actually not fine I was going to continue to do some work."_

_He would sigh, "So uptight gogy."_

_George would flush light pink, "You're so annoying..." smiling all the way through._

_"You love me." He yawned._

_There was a short silence._

_"What do you think we'll talk about when we meet for the first time in person?" Dream asked._

_George was taken by surprise by the question, "I dunno, what if you're all weird and shy and don't wanna talk to me."_

_Dream laughed lowly, sounded like he was muffled by a pillow, "I don't think_ **_I'm_ ** _going to be the shy one."_

_George scowled, "What, you think I will be?"_

_"George it took you like 2 weeks to talk to me on discord."_

_He scoffed, "No, you left_ **_me_ ** _on read. Remember?"_

_He heard rustling over the call, "The details aren't important. Anyways, we can just talk about this conversation."_

_George smiled to himself and rolled his eyes. "Riveting."_

_Dream wheezed, "Hey, it's a start. I'm sure you'll be too distracted by my handsome-ness to even form a sentence."_

_The brunette scoffed. "You wish."_

-

He remembered he had sat back in his chair, imagining being in the room with him in that moment. 

"You're awake," Clay cheered up almost instantly, turning the volume of his music down. 

George looked over at him, returning his smile, "Barely, did you want me to drive?"

Clay cleared his throat, "I was actually about to take a quick stop, are you sure you want to try?"

George thought it over, it looked like driving any other car. He nodded. 

Clay sighed, honestly excited to get a break, even though he wouldn't admit that. He doesn't wanna come off weak or anything, not that anyone would even think that, but he thinks like that. George had been resting since they had stopped to get food, and soon enough the others followed; probably heading off to sleep the best they could in the conditions of the RV. Nick had complained it was hot in the bunk up top, and it was super bumpy all of the time, but you could sleep if you were tired enough. 

Clay felt tired enough as he pulled onto an exit, stopping at a gas station to use the restroom. He could have in the RV, but they had limited water. Plus, he figured he would pick up some five hour energy and maybe some candy to pull him through the night. He grabbed some chocolate raisins as well. For George. 

He walked back the RV, watching George settle into the drivers, poking and prodding at some of the things on the dash. The youngest also noticed the Moobloom, Lucas, sitting in-between their chairs. 

He stretched his long, tired legs a bit more before settling into his seat. 

The blonde couldn't hold back a giggle as George had to move his seat a few inches forward to reach the pedals. It earned him a scowl. 

"Don't hate me, I just can't help it." He said, simultaneously throwing him the chocolate covered raisins. 

"You remembered!" The older boy responded, giving Clay the biggest grin, which made him melt a little. 

It was different, being able to see his true, real reactions in person now. Being able to see his face as he messed with him, or did something for him. It was addictive to Clay, he couldn't help but be a little obsessed with the smiles and eye-rolls from his friend. He wondered if George thought the same. 

"Of course," He responded. "So, are you ready to start going?" 

George let out a sigh, letting both hands fall on the steering wheel, "I guess," 

Clay chuckled, "Don't worry, the worst thing is that you have no rearview mirror, so you have to check your blindspots." 

George's eyes widened slightly, "I don't think I can do all of that, you're going to have to help me."

"Of course I will," He put his hand on George's shoulder, "Would you like me to hold your hand?" 

George rolled his eyes, scoffing as he shrugged the large rough hand off of him, it made Clay bend slightly in a wheeze. 

_Yeah, the reactions were so much better in person._

"You're such an idiot." 

"I was actually planning to make it my personal goal to see if I can make you roll your eyes out of your head on this trip." 

George scoffed again, "You're doing pretty good so far." 

Clay laughed again, rubbing his eyes slightly. 

George then put the vehicle in park, easing onto the road. He was awkward with his hands, not sure where to put them at, and it seemed to be a little difficult for him to get a good feeling for it. It would just have to grow on him. 

"You're just staying on this road for a while, so it's an easy drive."

George chuckled, "Thank you, Clay, I think I'll be okay."

_'Clay'_

It's much different than 'Dream.' for sure, it felt much more private, it was different leaving George's lips; Yes it was his name, and maybe he had no good way of explaining the twist it gave his gut, but it was different. 

"It sounds so different when you say my real name." He voiced his thoughts.

"Really? ...How?" George questioned, tilting his head slightly. 

"I dunno. Everything is different when it's involving you really."

George paused

"What'd you mean by that?" 

Clay himself paused. 

"That sounded better in my head," He responded. 

George smirked, "Oh so now you're thinking about me?" 

Clay scoffed, shocked, how the tables have turned. "Hey, that's my thing," 

George's smile only widened, "What, to think about me?" 

The blonde put a cold hand to his face, cooling down the embarrassment that threatened to reveal itself in a deep shade of red. "You know what I was trying to say there."

George giggled, "It's nice being the one not subject to the torture, for once."

Clay laughed with him, realizing how much he had craved moments like this. The past few days had been short conversations, nothing that you would expect from the two. Their closeness being blinded by the awkwardness of meeting each other for the first time. 

Clay had thought about the moment a lot, finally getting to meet his best friend. He dreamed he would catch his eyes at the airport, run up to him and hug him tight. It would be like a scene from a movie, and everything would make him feel like he was floating. 

And as nice as it was, there was that awkward feeling behind it all. The one that they had talked about on their call. 

"Hey, do you remember us talking about what we would do when we met for the first time?" Clay inquired, leaning back in his seat; looking at the roof of the vehicle where Nick laid directly above them. 

George thought for a moment, smiling as he did so, "Weirdly enough, I was thinking about it earlier..." 

Clay turned over, focusing his eyes on the pearly skin that seemed to shine in the dark of the RV. "Really? So you're thinking about me?"

George noticed his change in position, "I already used that one," and wanted to hide under his gaze, "And also yes; this one is just as disappointing as that one was," 

Clay let his mouth fall open, eyes now focused on the bridge of his nose, "Wow... do I need to turn this vehicle around?" His voice stern like a father to a child who refused to behave. 

The older scoffed, "Sorry to remind you but you aren't the one driving." 

"Fair. But you can be a bit nicer to your back seat driver." 

A pause. 

"Are you at least distracted by my handsome-ness?" 

George fought a cheesy smile and a pink dusting across his cheeks, "You're such an idiot." He pressed his lips together in a tight grin. 

"You didn't say no," Clay teased, now focused on the smile forming on the brunette's lips. His own eyes began to get droopy. 

"Well I'm definitely not giving in to your games, Dream. Clay." He corrected. He sensed eyes on him, and looked over only to see the younger's eyelids falling, his blonde hair tousled in his face, his cheeks a soft pink; and pressed against the fabric of the chair. Maybe he was the slightest bit nice looking to George, but he would never give Clay the satisfaction of knowing he thought that. 

Before he could look away in time, his eyes opened back up, wide. 

"Are you going to sleep?" He asked, eyes focused on the road again. In the distance, what looked like a camera flash could barely be seen over the dark horizon. 

"No, I wanted to stay up and talk, I just might close my eyes a little." 

George giggled. Letting a lull takeover the conversation as he came up with something new to talk about. It was easy, it was nice. Everything with Clay was easy. 

"What all do you have planned when we get there?" He asked, causing Clay to sit up more in his seat.

"Well, I watched a few documentaries," He heard George snicker, "And theres some stuff I wanna go see, maybe hike a little..." He trailed off, pulling his phone out of his pocket for a brief moment. "I have a whole list really, and there's bears and buffalo too. Then I saw there are places we can like get in the water and I thought that would be fun."

George lulled it over, "You said you've never been?" 

"No, and I'm honestly pretty excited to get out of Florida. Beach trips get so boring."

"Better than my summer vacations for sure," George sighed, "This is the first one I'll spend with friends in years."

Clay frowned, not enjoying the idea of George being alone, "...I'll be sure to make it the best. Besides the bad tire so far."

George recalled the thumb war, "At least I got to get something good out of that."

Clay looked to George's hands, "That you got to hold my hand?" 

George looked at him, meeting his eyes for a brief moment, sensing the playfulness. They were obviously the second thing George noticed about his friend, other than his height. They were the color of the leaves in autumn as the sun shined down on them; and George's were the wood from which said yellow leaves sprouted from. 

"No. But you may think that if you'd like." 

Clay's heart jumped a little. Maybe he would think of it like that. 

"Would you ever want to live somewhere besides Florida?" George asked.

"I don't know. I really like being close to my Mom and Sister." He responded. "Plus, I hate the snow."

George's eyes widened, "No way... I love the snow." 

Clay chuckled, "I knew you probably did."

"How?"

"I don't know, you just seem like the kind of guy that likes the cold."

George narrowed his eyes at that, "Why?" 

Clay shrugged. "I dunno, you obviously don't like the heat, and you seem to always be wrapped up in something." 

George looked down at himself wearing a hoodie. "I do love the snow, maybe you haven't had good snow."

Clay raised an eyebrow, "And where might some good snow be?" 

"England, you should really visit me there sometime." George finished. 

Clay paused, "You would like that?" 

George squinted, "Yes?"

"Maybe I will then, we can visit my home and then visit yours."

George's heart raced as he imagined showing Clay all around England, showing him the best spots to get treats, and take beautiful photos, and learn about the history of the place. "I've never been able to show anybody anything that they would really even care about." 

Clay frowned, "What do you mean?"

George bit the inside of his cheek, "I never had that many friends I guess, and every girl I dated never lasted. Plus, they all knew England; so it would be fun to show someone that is brand new to it all." 

Clay ran his hand through his hair, "So we're dating then,?" 

George groaned, "Shut up, no." He thought, "Actually, we will never date now, just because you said that."

Clay chuckled, swinging his head back to rest on the seat, "Well... I guess I gotta start looking again."

George's heart skipped, against his will. And he remembered what Clay had said before, about it being easy to compliment someone if you truly believed it. It burned his skin like a flame, and swallowed him whole. 

* * *

Some time had passed, Clay being more and more drowsy as it had went on. Him and George had stayed up until about 2:00 AM; talking about everything that had been swirling around their heads about each other. From time to time it would get more serious, Clay watching George's expression fall when speaking about some negative thing he had experienced. George noticing the shift in Clay's tone when it wasn't okay to make jokes about something.

But eventually Clay had succumbed to his fatigue, slumping back in the chair facing away from George. His body stretched out as much as it physically could, and his shirt clinged to his body, revealing muscles, ribs, and just his overall frame. He was not a small guy. 

As George looked at the boy sleeping, he recalled the relentless flirtatious teasing with one another scattered throughout their conversation; with George normally falling victim to Clay's harassment.

They had always done this, but tonight it felt it had a little more weight to it, that Clay was looking at him a little too hard, a little too much. But was it too much? Did it really bother George that much to hear Clay compliment him? 

_It's easier to say it when you believe it._

He fought it int he back of his mind. _'Don't overthink it'_ played on repeat. 

The camera flashes from before that George had noticed turned into lightning, and it was quiet. It hadn't bothered George until he started to see sprinkles on his windshield, and he noticed he had to start fighting to steer the vehicle as the wind picked up. 

He wanted to wake the sleeping boy and ask for help; but didn't at the same time. He was scared to get into serious problems, but he had been asleep for maybe 45 minutes at best. It would make him feel so guilty, so he decided to wait until it got bad. 

Unfortunately, the thunder and lightning started to pick up; and George realized they were heading straight into the storm ahead. He swallowed hard, noticing an extreme pull on the steering wheel, feeling like the RV was going to tip over. His heartbeat was picking up, becoming more and more nervous by the second. 

And then, all at once, it seemed the rain came down like a bucket of water, and the sound of the rain causing a massive disturbance inside the vehicle. 

"George, what's going on?" Clay asked, rubbing his face and moving his hair out of it. 

"I don't know, but the wind is really strong, we're in a storm or something, I think I need you to drive." He said exasperated, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel. 

Clay blinked fast, "Jesus, okay, uhh... tr-try and pull over." He said, trying to regain control of the situation. 

They both began to hear whining coming from the back, seeing that Rat had sat up in the bed, she looked quite threatening honestly. 

George licked his lips as he slowed, the RV almost pushing itself off the road for him. Once he put it in park, he looked at Clay, who had his hair falling in his face, and his cheeks flush from the sudden change in mood. 

"Okay, just slide past me and I'll scoot in behind you." Clay said, motioning for him to get up out of the seat. He happily obliged, awkwardly sliding his back against the other's chest.

Clay settled into the seat, giving himself a minute to get readjusted to the real world after being overtaken by sleep. 

"I was going to wake you up but I felt bad." George admitted, Clay looked over

"You should have, I'm sorry. I had no idea there was going to be a storm."

They discussed sitting there to see if the rain would ease up, but to no avail. Instead they started to drive, being thrown across the lane by the wind and rain. It would make the hairs on Clay's arms stand up when a 18 wheeler passed by, speeding despite the weather. It was much more intense than in a normal car. George sat straight up in his chair, bouncing his leg at the intensity of it all. 

He kept his arms tight, not letting the wind knock them all over the road, and drove steady. He struggled to see out of the front window, seeing as the cheap windshield wipers only smeared the water and made it worse. 

George spoke up, "Are you doing all right?" 

Clay didn't look away, "Yeah, look at how pretty the lightning is though." He said, pointing with his chin to the blanket of a dark black sky. With no trees around, you saw every single strike that appeared. 

Rat continued to whine in the back, probably scared of the rain. So George carefully grabbed her and held her close to his chest, returning to the passengers seat. 

As scary as it initially was, you could find the beauty in it. The wind was strong, and heavy, and the lightning was bright, and cascaded over the entire sky. 

"It's so strange to see a storm like this, in Florida, theres so many trees and beaches, and you never get to see it in this perspective." Clay said, in awe at the storm; all the while still fighting it. 

George admired his ability to view the situation as something that wasn't completely terrifying, and instead beautiful. 

"I know the perfect song to play right now," George said, grabbing the phone off of the stand and scrolling through spotify for the perfect candidate,"

Clay listened closely as a familiar tuned played. He smiled as he recognized it almost immediately. 

"Minecraft music?" He grinned, his straight teeth brightening up the whole RV. 

George returned the smile, his eyes scrunching in the corners, something Clay was growing to appreciate. "Yes! It fits so perfectly."

And it did, with the thunder in the background, it added so much to the simplistic sounds of piano and synth. Clay found it a lot easier to drive with it playing. 

"Perfect choice."

* * *

It was 4am, Clay had finished the driving, and somehow was let into an RV park. He found the strength in him to plug everything up somehow. He didn't care to check where exactly they were, he had one thing on his mind, and it was to get into bed. 

George was passed out in the passenger seat. And Clay walked over to him, noticing his dark brown hair all messed up, his eyelashes long, casting shadows on his cheeks, and his lips were a pale red. He was so peaceful looking, but Clay couldn't let him sleep like that. 

"George," He whispered, shaking his shoulder lightly, "George, hey we're here."

George's eyelashes fluttered open, raising his eyebrows as he was met with Clay's face, "What time is it?" 

"Hell if I know, hey come get in the bed with Bad." 

George groaned, getting himself up, stumbling, causing Clay to put out a cautionary hand. George lolled his head to the side, yawning the whole way. when he eventually made it, he collapsed on top of the blankets. 

Clay smiled, feeling the same tiredness, and took the couch again. 

And as he drifted off to sleep, he thought of his friend. He thought of how he wanted to closely examine the colors of George's eyes, hair, lips, the sound of his laugh, his voice, and the smile he gave. He didn't care if they were wrong things to think about, but they surrounded and clouded his thoughts until they all slipped away into nothingness. 

And in the distance, thunder rumbled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! lots more dialogue in this one. 
> 
> also, i went back and edited all of the other chapters cuz i was rereading them and cringing. eek so i redid some stuff lol. 
> 
> {hey also, for an extra note, i love the fanfiction community, and the fanart for the dream smp and the minecraft yt community, but please, lets respect the wishes of those that are uncomfortable with it, and please, PLEASE do not make NSFW art/stories of the minors involved. stay safe guys.}


	6. Slowly, but surely, drowning

Morning arrived, the sun peeking through the space in the curtains, illuminating the RV with a yellow glow. Bad was the first to wake up, looking over at Clay's scrunched up body as he laid on the very short couch, his legs folded up and his hands near his head, like a fetal position.

He cracked the door to let Rat outside, feeling a gust of cold air hit his skin, and walked over to Clay. He tapped him lightly, not wanting to disturb him too badly; he didn't know exactly how long, but he knew he had stayed up late.

Clay let out a soft groan, turning over to see Bad waking him up.

"Hey Dream," He started, not correcting the nickname, "Wanna get in the bed over there? You're a little too tall for this..." He motioned to the couch he was laying on. Without any protest, Clay stood up and took the five steps to the bed, carefully crawling in and getting under the covers next to George. 

Bad winced as he saw he still had shoes on, stepping on the clean sheets. 

George shifted in his sleep at the new body, before turning on his side to face Clay, it made Bad giggle to himself.

* * *

About 3 hours later; it was 10:00 AM, and Clay fluttered his eyelids open, hearing the distant voices of his friends outside. He noticed the bed was empty, and recalled the faint memory of Bad telling him to move. His back still felt the affects of the hard, unforgiving couch that made him scrunch into a ball; but it had resided slightly on the cheap mattress.

He sat up on his elbow, taking a look at his body; still wearing the clothes from the day before. He cringed at the fact he still had his shoes on, he probably looked like a wreck. 

He flopped back onto the bed, rubbing two hands over his face. He let a hand fall on his chest, closing his eyes as he thought about the night before. He didn't stop the smile that overtook his face when he thought of George playing the Minecraft music, or remembering the stories they had shared. It was a good night; and it was worth the lack of sleep he got. 

He decided to get out of bed, needing a shower. He walked over to switch on the water, before sliding out of his shoes and running a hand through his hair. He gripped the collar of his shirt from behind his neck, pulling it over his head; taking a look at himself in the mirror briefly before hearing the door open. 

"Oh. Sorry." He heard,

He turned around to see George looking at his torso, before quickly diverting his eyes, walking over smoothly to the small kitchen sink. He played it off well. 

Clay chuckled, "It's alright, I'm just about to get a shower." He wanted to comment on George's expression when he walked in, but decided the boy needed a break. But he would be lying if he said it didn't get his heart racing to see George react in such a way. He knew if it were Nick or Bad, they would probably scold or ignore him. 

"You need one, you stink." George said after a few seconds of silence. 

Clay shook his head smiling, "Not as bad as you do." 

George scoffed, Clay could hear the eye-roll. 

He stepped into the small bathroom, bending his neck down to not hit the ceiling, it was extremely small inside; The blonde noticing the shower head was below his own head, it was going to be extremely difficult. 

-

"This shower head is way too short for me!" George heard being yelled from inside the bathroom, he snorted. 

"It's your own fault for being so freakishly tall!" George yelled back, hearing the other groan as he did so.

His mind trailed off as he watched the water run over the grapes he was washing, completely zoning out and watching the grapes blur in his view. He thought about Clay's shirtless torso from a few seconds ago.

He was very lean, and tall, and he had a slight tan line where his shorts met his waist. He hadn't looked long, not wanting to stare or make it awkward. All he was doing was fetching some grapes for the other boys. But George couldn't help but let his mind run with thoughts, imagining himself seeing Clay's muscles on his back flex and relax, watching him raise his arm above his own head; and seeing his chest move up and down underneath him, breathing hard. 

George dropped the grapes in the sink, physically shaking his head, letting his hair fall into his eyes. 

_'Woah, too far.'_

He picked up the grapes, setting them into a bowl and pressing the excess water on his fingertips onto his cheeks. 

_'Way too far. What the hell?'_

He composed himself quickly before walking back outside, the cool air meeting his hot face.

Nick and Bad were where he left them, standing on the edge of their small campsite, leaned up against a fence looking out at the view of a lush field. There was a farmhouse nearby with horses, and the air was filled with the sounds of birds. It was crisp air, nothing like the humidity of Florida. The sun shined through the bright green trees, casting shadows all over the ground where they walked. 

Wildflowers were scattered everywhere, and it was magical, George wouldn't mind if this was the only place they got to go. He closed his eyes and breathed in the sound of the birds chirping, and the light wind combing through the branches above. 

"George! Come here!" Bad yelled for him, not too far away. 

George took the freshly washed grapes with him, plopping one into his mouth as he walked towards them. 

"If you look over there, theres some kids chasing a fox!" Bad announced, George's eyes widened. 

"Really?" His mouth having a fresh grape in it muffled his words. 

"Yes, and Bad and I wanted to go look at it," Nick said, "Look! It is literally going up to those kids!" 

George watched in awe as some children chased the fox around, giggling in joy as it would walk up to them to smell their hands for any offerings of food. The parking was up on a hill, so they looked down on top of them. George figured the kids were kin to the family that owned the site; as they were close to the small cabin that had a sign that said, "Check ins."

"Can foxes eat grapes?" George inquired, holding one up before it being snatched by Nick. George scowled. 

"No you muffinhead, grapes are toxic to dogs and foxes!" Bad scolded, looking down at Rat who sat by his feet obediently, oblivious to the furry friend below. 

"Oh." George ate another grape, "Well did you guys want one?"

Nick took a few into his hand, walking down the hill to go examine the fox. 

George and Bad trailed the youngest, smiling at any stranger that they walked by or saw. A lot of people were camping outside of their, notably, much nicer RV's. They had grills set up, and the smell of a cooked breakfast overtook George's nose, making his stomach grumble almost instinctively. 

Nick slowly approached the fox, which was quite scrawny, and wasn't much bigger than a raccoon. It didn't look like a typical orange, fluffy fox, but more like the friendly neighborhood scavenger fox. 

Bad gasped in surprise as the fox came right up to Nick, who squatted and held his arm out like the kids they had watched earlier. It backed up slightly in the sudden movement of Nick squatting, but excitedly continued to approach him. 

Nick let his mouth fall open in a shocked grin, and Bad walked around them, phone in one hand, handing Rat to George, who immediately began to lick the brown-eyed boys chin. He snapped a picture just as the fox sniffed the ends of Nick's fingertips, before quickly becoming disinterested and strutting away. 

The youngest turned around, eyes shining like a child, "Did you guys see that!" He did little hops on the ends of his toes, walking over to George before petting Rat on her head. 

"I saw it!" They looked up, seeing Clay above them, waving with his hair dripping. "Bad, you got a picture right?" 

Bad covered his eyes with his hand, "Yeah!" 

They all shared smiles, looking at the conceited fox one last time before walking back up, meeting Clay at the RV. 

Clay was wearing a pair of black shorts with a long sleeve shirt, "It's kind of cold out here, it's nice." He announced, "And it's so beautiful, did you guys see that view?" 

George looked around, almost gasping as he looked behind the RV where Clay was pointing, seeing a breathtaking mountain landscape in front of him. It was lush with foliage, bushes, and it was nothing like George had seen. The whole place was truly alluring. 

"Clay are we just going to stay here? Cuz I'm okay with that." Nick announced, a smile plastered across his expression. 

"No, we actually have to leave soon, but don't worry, this is just the beginning." He responded. "So did you guys want breakfast?" 

George looked down at his bowl of grapes, remembering the smell of home cooked eggs, sausage and bacon.

"Yes."

* * *

They had all said their goodbye's to their campsite, loading everything from their breakfast up, expressions excited as they all took a seat inside the RV once again. 

"So where even are we right now?" Nick asked.

"South Dakota." Clay responded, "And we're going to be driving up this steep mountain soon, and we'll be in Wyoming."

Bad held Rat to his chest, sitting in the passenger seat, "So it won't be long?"

Clay nodded, "I figured we get there sometime in the afternoon, and check into our campsite which is like an hour away from Yellowstone, and then we could go night swimming." 

Bad clapped his hands together, "Oh my goodness! I'm so excited." He grinned.

George also grinned, "Wait really? Night swimming? That's so cool. Where at?" 

"It's in Wyoming, and it says it's the world's largest mineral hot spring." He stated. Nick gasped,

"Oh my god Dream that is so dope. How did you even find that?" 

Clay chuckles nonchalantly, "I just googled places to swim."

George rolled his eyes. "So how far away is it?" 

Clay hummed to himself, "It says 7 hours. But, it's a very scenic route. So it's 11:00 now, and we will get there about..." He paused, "6:00?" 

Nick squealed, "Oh my god oh my god oh my god, I _have_ to tweet this..." He pulled out his phone, "Today I pet a fox and get to swim in the world's largest hot water place?" 

George laughed, " _"Hot water place?"_ " 

Bad sent him the photo of him holding his hand out to the fox, it only made Nick more excited. 

He typed out the caption, _'Sapnap got to pet a fox pog?'_

* * *

"Clay just let me drive." 

Clay groaned, "No, Sap. I told you we're basically there." 

Nick exclaimed, "Exactly! So it wont be too far, you let George drive and he's terrible!" 

George scrunched his eyebrows together, "Oh please, I think simply entertaining the idea of you driving will get us killed." 

Nick scoffed, "You just actually don't know that George. Have an open mind."

Nick was sat on the floor, pillow underneath him to support him from sitting on the cold floor of the RV. They had been inclining through mountains for a while, and George would be lying if he said it hadn't hurt his ears. On top of the nonsense Nick was spewing. 

The energy inside the RV truly just didn't match the art outside. Everywhere you looked, there were hills, mountains, rock formations. They were covered in beautiful colors and plants. All of the trees were gorgeous shades of green and yellow, and even though George couldn't see all of the colors the rest of them could see, it was still just as beautiful. 

Nick reached up to turn the volume of the music up, Katy Perry's ' _The one that got away_ ' blasting through the pathetic speakers. Clay gave him a stoic look, but didn't adjust the volume. instead, he motioned to George, mouthing: _'Record. This.'_

George pulled out his phone, the low lighting barely catching the shape and details of Nick's face, shadows casting itself onto his own features. It was enough for George to record though, and it was going to be so worth it for blackmail. But then again, Nick would probably be so proud of it. 

He continued to hold a shoe he found on the floor as a mic, singing loudly along to the song, but not distracting everyone else from enjoying the scenic surroundings. It would make Bad groan an, _'oh my goodness'_ every so often though.

Rat would bark at him too, causing Clay to erupt with wheezes. It was domestic, and George couldn't help the warm feeling in his chest. It reminded him of the feelings he had when on call with the rest of them, playing songs for one another, and falling asleep on call. As cheesy as it was, it was the best feeling to be surrounded by the people he enjoyed most in the world. 

"Oh, we're getting close," Clay announced, "You guys might want to get some clothes out to change into. I'm not sure how this works but I'm sure we can just go in."

Nick immediately shot up, stumbling at the shakiness of the RV, before sliding across the floor in his socks to where Bad had packed his clothes away. 

George directed himself to Clay, talking to him on the left of his headrest, poking his head slightly into the gap. "Is it going to be really hot water?" George asked.

Clay smiled, "Not too hot where you can't get in," The hair on the back of his neck started to raise up at the closeness of George, his whispers.

"Hey what are you guys whispering about over there?" Bad asked, voice laced with fake hurt, but mostly curiosity.

Clay responded quickly, "George just wants to see me shirtless." 

George choked on his own spit, "N-no. Clay wishes... why would you even say that?" He asked, annoyed. Bad raised an eyebrow, 

"Ahh, I see." He gave George a knowing look.

_'Fuck you Bad.'_

George tried to fight the blush as he remembered the visual from earlier, suddenly realizing that would be his whole night. Being endlessly teased by Clay in every way he could think of.

He was evil, and the golden smile and eyes could be deceiving. 

"Actually George has already seen me without a shirt on." He said slyly. George's eyes widened. 

Bad giggled to himself, "Ohh... So that's what George was doing this morning." 

George pulled back, giving them both a look of disbelief. "I cannot believe this. What is happening right now?" 

Clay wheezed so hard, George feared he might drive off the road, Bad laughed along with him. 

"Oh, you don't wanna know what happened this morning." 

He shook his head, "You're such an idiot."

\- 

There wasn't much more time that passed before they were at the hot spring. Clay had found a parking spot, (and did a poor job, might they add.) and they all unloaded, towels in hands, and swimming trunks on. 

The place had a few more people around, mostly young adults spending their date in a hot spring, but besides that; it was pretty deserted. 

"Dude, this is beautiful." Nick said, looking around at the large rock formations, colored white, orange, and brown. It was a sight for sore eyes, and much different from their homes. Clay was used to swimming in clear, blue beach water, cold and chilling against the hot Florida sun, but this was the complete opposite. The water was there to warm you, and protect you from the chilled Wyoming air. 

They had reached the edge of the hot spring, watching as steam floated on top of the water like a blanket of vapor. It was mesmerizing, and they didn't hesitate to get in. 

They all slipped off their shoes, testing the water with their feet, Nick let out a surprised sound

"Oooh, it's really warm."

He slipped off his shirt, revealing a loose tank top before submerging himself, sighing as it swallowed his whole body. 

Clay removed his shirt as well, revealing his lean frame once again, George did everything possible to not look, not wanting to fuel the fire from earlier. He also removed his shirt, feeling exposed as the cold air made him shiver. Bad also did the same, easing slowly into the water with Rat, who panted excitedly. 

"Oh my goodness it's so warm in here!" He exclaimed, Clay following suit. George was left standing outside of the water, hands wrapped tightly around his shoulders, hovering his chest. 

Clay bit back a smile as he watched the smaller boy dip his toes in again, getting to his ankles, looking nervous. He looked so cute, Clay felt like he could wrap up his whole frame with his body. His dark brown eyes were big in the darkness, the low sunset illuminating his pale ivory skin. George was beautiful, and Clay couldn't keep his eyes off of him. 

"C'mon George, it's so nice," Clay said, letting his whole body submerge into the warm water, only stopping right below his nose, he was eyeing George, watching as his expression loosened up the deeper he went. 

George smiled, getting in, wincing at the sudden change in temperature. It was so much warmer, and nicer, than the cold air that was hitting him, but it was addicting all at once. As foreign as it felt to him, it was nice. It surrounded all of him, comforted him to his core. It was scary, but then hit like a train He followed his friends in, who made crude remarks about how normally warm water was a bad thing. It made him roll his eyes. 

"It feels like I'm a lobster being boiled alive," Nick said, floating on his back in the steaming water. His toes stuck out of the water, wiggling around.

Bad laughed, "That is so dark." 

Clay also laughed between his words, "We're all just a bunch of shrimps," 

They all erupted into playful giggles as they imagined themselves being little shrimps as Clay had described. 

George laughed through his words, "You guys are ridiculous." 

Clay swam away, his long body moving naturally in the water. He submerged his whole head, swimming a good amount of feet away from the boys. Bad stayed close to the edge, not wanting to scare Rat or overheat her. Nick followed Clay, laughing behind him all child-like. They chased each other for a minute, George watching in amusement. 

The water was clear, and you could see to the bottom. It was pretty hot water as well, not quite scalding, but more than warm. George ran his hand through, watching it move and make ripples. It obviously wasn't meant to be swam in like a pool, but it sure had a stunning view, in the distance were mountains, and surrounding them were the big mineral rocks; which were coated in a thin layer of water. Clay had done a good job of choosing a spot for them. 

He looked up to see Nick whispering to the blonde, both of them eyeing George. 

Clay had a gleam in his eye, one that sent George's heart to the bottom of his stomach, it was the same feeling he got when in a manhunt, and when Dream was running right behind him like a madman. His wet hair clung to his forehead, and with both of them side-by-side, you knew it was trouble. 

George slowly backed himself up, fingers curled and ready to grab the edge of the spring to hop out at any given moment, he looked behind him to see how far he would need to go for just a brief moment, and when he turned around both boys were gone. Submerged in the water, and coming after him like sharks in an ocean, hunting their prey. 

George's heart rate skyrocketed, immediately pawing the water and walking on his toes to get to the edge, he haphazardly yelped for Bad before feeling two pairs of hands on his ankles, pulling him in just before he could grab the edge. 

They pulled him in, hot water surrounding George in every way. It made him scream, water filling his mouth, his adrenaline kicked in as he kicked at the hands that grabbed him, satisfyingly landing a hit on what felt like was a bicep. He paddled his upper body towards the surface, gasping for air as he did so. 

"Bad! Help me!" He screamed, who only maniacally laughed, and George looked at his attackers, who were rubbing the water out of their eyes, their bodies slick with warm water. Nick's tank top clung to him like a second skin, and shook his hair away from his face with a playful smile. 

And Clay, well, George had a hard time figuring out if he wanted to run for his life, or fight every urge to want to swallow the man whole. He had hot water dripping down his chest, his hair flopped over his head, face and body a scary shade of red; and his emerald eyes were narrowed at George with a wicked smile. He still held his ankle in one hand, realizing he had kicked away at Nick's grip successfully. But he wasn't free yet. 

"Clay, please let me go-" He started to beg, but only got yanked underwater again, feeling the strong hands move up his calf as he brought him closer, but George wasn't going to let him win without a fight. 

He let him pull him close before reaching at anything, hands finding the edge of his swim trunks. He yanked as hard as he could, pulling the taller boy under as well, and coincidentally, on top of his victim. 

The two pushed against each other's chest, listening to the sounds of the water moving around them, George's soft palm was pressed against Clay's chest, which was hard as a rock from the flexing of the muscle. He opened his eyes only briefly, barely seeing his blonde hair floating in the water. He continued to kick, not landing again, and slowly becoming painfully aware of how badly he needed to get a breath. 

George felt Clay's hand wrap around his bicep, squeezing hard to try and keep him under, but to no avail, George broke the surface of the water, suddenly becoming very aware of how hot everything felt. Maybe the water was too hot, he didn't know, but he barely had any time to react before Clay had come up as well, only to pull both of them back down under again, this time with his back pressed against his chest. 

George was overwhelmed with the sensation of Clay's body pressed against his, making his heart rate only go faster, his shoulders were more broad, and his torso was much larger, he swallowed George whole.

He grabbed at the arm that had wrapped around his middle, yanking but slowly accepting that the taller boy was a bit stronger than him. He felt his body giving up, struggling to get away from the younger boys firm grip. George found the bottom of the spring, and pushed both of them back up to the surface to hopefully bargain.

"Clay! Stop oh my god I'm going to drown," He said in between laughs, He heard Nick cackling somewhere around him, and he brought his free arm up to wipe at the water in his eyes.

"Do you yield?!" Clay yelled into his ear, making him laugh only more, "Answer my question!" He did his best to sound seriousness, but his voice was breaking with laughter as well. 

"I-I suppose just..." He was struggling to catch his breath, "Just please let me go," 

He felt their legs tangling, Clay wrapping his right leg around George, rendering him completely helpless in his arms. His voice was right in his ear, and he could hear his panting from the fight. 

George was painfully reminded of his vision of Clay's chest rising and falling earlier, and mentally punched himself to snap out of it. 

The more they laughed, the more Clay realized he couldn't keep holding him, giving into the weakness of his laughter, he let the older boy go and began to breathe hard in order to catch his breath. 

George felt his back immediately go cold as Clay let him go, no longer feeling his wet skin pressed against his back; and feeling an empty spot where his forearm had wrapped around his hips. His leg left him as well, leaving George alone in the open water. He cringed at himself for missing the warmth, the closeness. 

_'Control yourself,'_ played on repeat in both of their heads. 

They made eye contact, Clay giving him a sheepish look while George narrowed his eyes, as if to say, 

_'You know what you're doing.'_

and Clay say that, and simply tilted his head slightly, as if he was responding, 

_'But I know you enjoy it.'_

He shook it off, turning around to scold Bad, "You didn't even try to stop them!" He yelled, causing the oldest to erupt into a fit of laughter once again, and George slowly made his way over to the edge, pushing himself out of the water and onto the edge, only now submerging his toes in the hot water. His body felt good against the cold air, making him shiver. 

Clay followed, pushing himself up to sit next to George, his wet shoulder rubbing against his. 

"Truce?" 

George scoffed, knowing the look in his eyes, "You're the one that started it!" 

Clay wheezed, "Oh come on, It was Nick's idea." He bit his lip, eyes not leaving George's.

Nick's eyes widened, "Okay, okay, buddy. Let's not put all the blame on Sapnap." He started to laugh as he spoke, "You're the one that went berserk." 

Bad caught his breath to chime in, "Yeah, I thought you were gonna kill the guy."

George threw his hands up in the air, smiling in disbelief. 

Clay held his stomach, "Ugh... My chest hurts," He kept laughing. 

George stood himself up, pushing on Clay's shoulder for support. 

They all stuck around for a little longer, but decided that it was late, and they were tired after soaking in their boiling water. They all walked back to the RV, George thinking about Clay's antics, his body going numb all over from the whole thing. His heart rate was still beating fast, biting his lip.

* * *

After they had got to their site, and checked in, they had a quick rinse-off shower before getting ready for bed. 

"Sappynap, who has the bed tonight?" Bad asked, causing Nick to cringe, 

"That's just horrible Bad." He responded. 

Bad pouted, "I thought it was nice." 

Nick giggled, "It's George and Clay." He said, causing George to slow his movements for a moment as he brushed his teeth. 

_'Not tonight, after all... that.'_

Clay internally smiled, knowing that George must be just sick after hearing that. 

"Yes! Gogy and I get to cuddle!" He drove the knife in. 

George groaned.

"Awe... I'm missing out." Nick whined. 

"Yes, you will be" He responded, winking at George who rolled his eyes impossibly hard. 

They continued to get ready for bed, George doing everything he possibly could to stall, and of course Clay noticed. At this point, it was just extremely amusing, to see how annoyed he got George. Pushing farther and farther, and the best part; was that George wouldn't stop him. He just fell perfectly into every single one of his comments, his little traps. It was endearing to see George smile, hear his laugh. 

He knew he couldn't actually push him to the edge though. George meant way more to him than that. He would torture himself before hurting him. 

Clay was turned on his side, facing the wall as he scrolled on his phone. George had turned all of the lights off, the only light coming from the phone screens of the boys who were still awake. He felt the bed dip next to him. 

He turned to lay on his back, George mirroring his position. They both looked at the ceiling, millions of thoughts running through their heads. It hurt, spinning around like a hurricane. Maybe Clay had pushed too far, but it's just friends messing around right? 

George cursed to himself, _'Friends don't look at me like that Clay.'_

Clay turned on his side; George winced, not ready for what he was going to say.

Or do.

"Hey, everything is okay right?" He whispered, voice gentle, and sincere. It was them now, he wasn't going to put on a show. 

George turned his head, his dark eyes meeting Clay's gentle ones. He had to tilt his chin up a little to meet them, making Clay blink a few times, "Yes, why wouldn't we be."

Clay laid on his back, still looking at George, "You know what I mean."

George's heartbeat picked up fast, he did know what he meant. Maybe he knew more than he liked to know about Clay. Maybe Clay knew George way more than he knew himself. It scared him right to his bones, his muscles, his thoughts and nerves. He didn't want to lose what they had now.

He sighed, "I promise I'll tell you if you do something wrong." 

Clay gave a gentle smile, George didn't talk like this. He rarely shared raw, serious, genuine emotion with the younger. He had the night before, in their long talk; but he craved that genuine-ness from him constantly, he wanted that sparkle in his eye to shine around him, he adored the smile that he could give him, he was slowly becoming more and more enamored with knowing George in this way, in this close way, the way they were now. 

They stared at one another, continuing to mull it all over. They both knew what they wanted to say, what they wanted to do, and it ate away ate their hearts, but choosing silence was easiest, choosing to remain normal was better, and not hurting one another was smarter. 

Clay reached up, wrapping a warm arm under George's, pulling him in by the back of his head, giving him one, reassuring hug before he decided to drift away into sleep. 

George sighed into it, his cheeks and whole body on fire from the gesture. How did Clay make him feel so comforted, so safe, _so effortlessly?_

And why was this slowly starting to become so _uncontrollable_? 

They turned their backs to one another, choosing which parts of this to ignore, and which parts to dwell on. 

George decided to smile hard at Clay's warm hug, his pearly smile, his excited eyes. He decided to smile at their closeness, their friendship, their platonic love for one another, 

Clay decided to bite his lip, and to squeeze his eyes together at George's fondness, his soft, chestnut hair, his golden eyes, and addictive giggle. 

Forget all of the other stuff, right? 

Just be easy. 

_Everything about each other was easy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowweee hopefully this isnt shit and its 2:37 AM and i work at 8:00 AM in the morning wish me luck my friendds!  
> <3<3<3<3<3  
> lemme know if i spelled something wrong because i lazily went back and edited this :')


	7. The way I do

Naturally, Clay was the first awake.

He usually was; whether it was first thing in the morning, or in the dark hours of night, Clay was always awake first. He would stay up late for recording; yawning into the mic until his friends yelled at him to go to bed. He would be first in the call, morning voice groggy as birds sang into his ear from the outside. 

He stretched his long legs, noticing George laying on his side, facing him. His face displayed peace; as his eyebrows rested on his forehead gracefully, and his mouth not hanging open. Clay wasn't creepy; so he didn't look for long. But he wouldn't fight the warmth that filled his chest at the sight. 

He found himself doing that a lot: _Not_ fighting the feelings that tended to overwhelm him about George. And it was unlike him in every way. Clay was a tease, and would receive the same treatment from his friends, but he knew better than to think these were just 'friendly' gestures towards George.

He also knew how George was reacting to it, and the feelings were electric. It felt like highschool; and messing around with that pretty boy in the hallway who would roll his eyes at every single one of your actions. It felt like rubbing feet together under the lunch table, smiling under your breath, making eye contact in a lecture. It was fun; warm. It made his heart soar, and only want more. 

Cold toes hit the floor, and he pushed himself off of the edge of the mattress slowly, taking in a deep breath as he stretched out his spine, hearing it crack as he bent backwards. The air conditioning unit ran loudly, but Clay noticed the air was cool on its own, and was tempted to turn it off. He rubbed his arms, breaking out in goosebumps. 

"Clay?" A groggy voice spoke up, startling him.

He turned around, smiling at George's sleepy eyes, which were screwed shut, as he sat up slightly, hugging the covers tightly around his shoulders.

"Mhm?" He hummed in response, rubbing the side of his face with one hand. 

"Why's it so cold in here..." He groaned, pulling the sheet over his face, hiding his head in the pillow. 

Clay chuckled, "Do you need me to come warm you up?" 

George furrowed his brows, peeking over the sheets to glare at him, seeing his smug grin, "Why would you- _no_." He flopped his head back onto the pillows. 

The blonde wheezed and shook his hair out of his eyes before turning the fan down, almost immediately warming them up. 

The time read about 10 o'clock in the morning, and Clay laughed at himself for thinking he had actually gotten up early. He knew that they had a long day ahead; and forgave himself for the late start. The past few days had been long hours of driving, and more driving, he felt he had earned it. He also earned a good breakfast. 

"George," He called, voice low to not wake the others.

And George was the one to groan back this time, still hiding his head under the covers. His body slightly moving with a firm ' _Mm_.' As if to say, ' _what?'_

The younger walked back over, flopping himself down on his stomach next to the George, "What do you want for breakfast?"

George sighed, his brown tufts of hair peeking out over the top of the sheets. They sat there for a moment, Clay refusing to allow himself to pull the covers down, and meet his brown eyes; not allowing himself to get that much closer, even if it was tempting. 

He cringed at himself; he really was feeding into this _crush_ of his. 

"I dunno." He mumbled out, pulling the covers down, revealing his face and rubbing his eyes. 

Clay's breath was lost at the deep browns; "Try harder," He said sitting on his elbows, lolling his head to be level with George's

George let his hands flop to his sides, "Waffles." He deadpanned, turning to the ceiling. 

Clay let out a laugh, rolling his eyes, "Did you happen to bring a waffle maker?" 

George scowled, stretching his hands above his head, back arching, "No, but you wanted to know."

Clay diverted his eyes, looking up at the ceiling, "Yeah, but I expected like, 'eggs' or something."

George smiled, "You're so annoying." He yawned, "What are my options?"

Clay raised an eyebrow, biting a smile as he pushed himself up, walking to the fridge and opening it, "Looks like cereal, some fruits, eggs... toast?"

George sat up, stretching his arms to the ceiling, "Was that a question?"

Clay wheezed, "I don't know where Bad packed the toaster." He shut the door.

"It's up there..." A voice grumbled, pointing to a cabinet above the sink. Bad was the source, face in a pillow. 

Clay chuckled, deciding to shake Nick awake as well, who opposed slightly before getting up and deciding he needed the bathroom. He looked to where Bad was sleeping and picked up Rat, her white fur soft to the touch, licking the back of his hands as he set her down to take her out to pee. Bad mumbled a _'Thank you'_ before rolling onto his back. 

The cool air hit his skin, making his hairs stand on end; it was much cooler than Florida summer air. Many other people were out, loading up and welcoming the new day. Rat finished her business; perking her ears at the other dogs across the road, making Clay smile to himself. 

Nick followed him outside, ruffling his hair before holding himself, "Dude, it's so nice out here." 

"I know, it feels like this and it's literally summertime." 

It was similar to the place they were the other morning, but the biggest difference being the huge mountain landscapes in the horizon. Clay admired the view, wriggling his toes in the soft grass, it felt almost artificial. 

Nick walked over and pat Rat on her back, "What are we going to do today?"

Clay sighed, "I dunno, figure we would drive through Yellowstone; look at the sights, go on some trails. We won't get through everything today, obviously."

He hummed in agreement, breathing in the morning air and walking around the RV. They didn't stay out long, but really just wanted to stretch their legs, the RV had been their home for the past few days; and they would all admit it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Four grown men inside of such a small space was too much to handle. 

Nick had lent down, calling the small pooch over and giggling as she licked at his fingers before standing up to go back inside. He play-punched the blonde on the shoulder, causing him to try and trip him in response but failing. They laughed together, a familiar sound, and decided to go back in as well, picking up the pup. 

George was still in the bed when they went back inside; and Bad was up, tidying the space. Clay cringed as he noticed the mess they had made of it; shoes were scattered, empty chip bags and water bottles laid about. It was quite a mess; and not to mention it smelled of food. 

"George wake up." Bad announced, earning a groan of defiance in response. 

Nick walked over to the bed, smiling evilly at Clay, "Georgie it's time to wake up..." He said in a sing song voice, lifting the covers and tickling the bottoms of his feet. Clay giggled as he remembered George telling them he had a phobia for people touching his feet, and for touching other people's feet. 

He shot up almost instantly; flailing the covers around and pulling his feet to himself,

"What is your problem!?" He yelled out, eyes wild and hair tousled, he was a ball of sheets and anger. 

They all erupted into fits of laughter, Bad defending George but still laughing anyways.

"I hate you all." George said, groaning to himself, "You're a bunch of children."

-

After the quick breakfast, they had gotten together a lunch to eat and packed bags for the long day ahead. Clay had been planning out where they were going to go for the day, becoming a little lost with the map, but planned on winging it. Bad had gathered many water bottles and was completely geared up with Rat strapped to his chest with the things mother's used to carry children. 

Bad had also made everyone put on sunscreen, and has reminded them every five minutes to drink water. They had kept calling him ' _Mom'_ because of it, and he prided himself in taking care of his ' _Muffins_ '.

Clay had driven out of the campsite and pulled over on the side of the road as they saw the _'Yellowstone National Park'_ sign, making everyone get out as Bad pulled out his selfie stick to take a picture. Nick had putten George in a headlock, causing a strained grin, and Clay to have a red face as he held back a wheeze. It was all so incredibly cheesy; but wonderful all the same. 

As they drove through the park they stared in awe at the scenery, snapping photos on their phones, and Nick carrying a DSLR camera around. The atmosphere was so breathtaking, unlike anything they had seen in their own hometowns. Trees towering tall and casting shades on the path, mountains in the distance, wildflowers scattering the ground, tall green grass. The rocks along the mountains were almost painted with different colors, and beautiful streams down below with crystal clear water. 

It looked like a video game, so unrealistically gorgeous and untouched by humanity, it left them all gaping and amazed. 

"George, did you know there are bears here?" Nick spoke up, snapping a picture of the landscape from the window.

"No, are we going to see one?" He asked, peering out of the drivers window on Bad's side. 

Clay leaned back in order to be heard, "It's possible, but we will see buffaloes." He answered

"I thought those were extinct." Nick spoke up, scowling as his photos were blurry from the bumpy ride of the RV.

Clay wheezed, "No, you're thinking of something else." He drove slowly as they went on, continuing to take in the scenery. 

He thought for a moment, "They have the tusks and they're like elephants." He reasoned, making George break into a fit of giggles

"Sappynappy! Those are wildebeests you muffinhead!" Bad exclaimed, making George fold in on himself as tears pricked his eyes in laughter. Clay joined him with a long wheeze, struggling to drive,

"Ba-" He started, but his wheeze cut himself off, "Bad that's a mammoth!" He yelped out, making Bad giggle to himself, 

"That's what I meant! I didn't mean to say what I said-" He started, but laughed too much to be understood. George was holding onto his stomach as he continued to laugh, Clay was now scream-wheezing. "Don't- stop _laughing_ at me!"

They continued to laugh off the moment, and each other. George was hiccuping by the end of it. But the sound in the vehicle eventually died and they approached a set of parking lots; pulling on their bags and stepping out into the warm sun. The wind was still chilly, but kept them cool as they began to walk along a series of paths. 

"Why does it smell like that?" Nick spoke up, scrunching his nose. He followed Clay, along with George, and Bad brought up the back. They walked past other groups of people with kids, people their age, and older people. It wasn't too crowded, but there was definitely a crowd. 

"I don't know- It smells like boiled eggs." George responded, pulling his shirt up over his nose. Clay looked back at them as he continued to walk up the wooden path.

"It's the geysers I think." Clay said, looking over the edge at the ground. Signs were scattered everywhere to keep off the ground. The smell was pretty bad, but the geysers were some of the most fascinating things to experience in person. 

They stopped at one geyser, leaning against the wooden railing as kids screamed in excitement. Clay read the plaque in front of him, and George stood close and read it as well. He slightly leaned into Clay's side, and he looked down at him for a brief moment smiling. 

"Yo it's like... popping!" Nick said, leaning over the rails slightly, amazement in his features. 

Bad pinched his nose but looked as well, "Woah... how is it doing that?" 

The geyser looked more like a mud pit, but it was bubbling with hot steam seeping out. They took some photos of it before moving onto others, which were similar in concept but had different names and varying sizes.

As amazing as it was, George had a hard time focusing as he kept meeting a pair of eyes. He would catch Clay's stare from time to time; and he would just shake his head, and roll his eyes. It was a game to them, locking eyes, shrugging it off with a grin; and George's blush was growing with every met stare. 

He would even find himself looking around if Clay wasn't next to him, expecting to meet his eyes every time. And most times he did. 

The sun would lay across their skin like a blanket; and Clay was so unfamiliar with the dryness in the air- a complete opposite to the air in Florida, which felt like you were swimming through it. Even though the sun was hot, the air was cool, and crisp.

There were little streams along the ground, with glistening rocks underneath. It was muddy, but amongst it there was colored moss, and tiny yellow flowers. Clay made a mental note to gather some for George eventually; hoping it would mirror how he would do it in game together. 

They were making a loop, and had stopped to take a picture of one of the geysers when George had leaned into Clay's side, arms on the wood railing and cheek pressed into his bicep, causing his emerald eyes to look down to him. He offered a smile, scanning his features, and George innocently whispered a soft, _"What?"_

Clay shrugged, smiling, "Nothing."

They continued up the path, walking up a steep incline to an area with the last big geyser. The trees on top grew tall and slender, and the geyser had lots of steam, only slightly concealing a big Bison towards the corner of the path. Nick's eyes widened, pulling Clay and George by the arms towards the wood railing. 

"Look how close it is!" Nick said, leaning over as far as he possibly could. "Do you think it will make noise?" He asked, turning back to them in excitement.

Bad came up behind them, "I don't know, but it's time for you guys to put on more sunscreen." He said, pulling out a bottle as they gathered. 

"Thanks BadMomHalo." Clay said, earning a _'Thats horrible.'_ groan from George.

Bad had the camera now, and was snapping photos of everything in their surroundings. They patiently waited for the group in front of them to move along before they were able to view the creature up close, as they did Nick wasted no time, followed by Bad.

George and Clay hung back; and George bumped him with his arm as they walked along. Clay looked forward, and George looked at his feet. 

"Why do you keep looking at me?" George asked, bumping his foot against the younger in an attempt to trip him. Clay smiled warmly, reaching in his bag to get a sip of water. 

He was taken aback by the comment, not expecting George to actually ask him, "I dunno, is it bothering you?" He offered.

George scoffed, "No- I just want to know why." He responded, looping his thumbs in the straps of his bag, still shuffling along the wood path. 

Clay looked at him, taking note of his demeanor, deciding to be honest, "You're nice to look at."

George slowed his movements, furrowing his eyebrows, "You're lying."

"I'm not."

"But you don't mean it, you're just messing with me." He said back, rolling his eyes with a sarcastic laugh mixed in. "-Kinda hurts Clay, because I know you're lying."

Clay looked at him, meeting his eyes once again like he had been the past 30 minutes or so. He saw that there was playfulness there, but sensed seriousness too. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets, "You just don't see you the way I see you, I guess." He said, and revelled in the way George's expression faltered, confused at first but eventually biting back a smile.

The brunette's chest had fluttered at the comment. It was foreign to him; nobody had said something like that before. At the same time it surprised him, Clay wasn't very serious, he was teasing, annoying, but seldom threw such outright comments at him like that. He had even said stuff about George's appearance before, but this one had felt real. 

He rubbed the back of his neck, "And how do you see me?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow in a teasing way to Clay, who slightly shook his head in an endearing grin. 

"I- well what, do you want me to describe it? Or something?" He asked, voice low and soft, but almost bashful. George knew this voice from when he would call him out if they were recording. He would get defensive, out of his competitive nature, but with George he would be soft, his deep voice swallowing George's headphones whole. He would try to be firm, but George could see through it from time-to-time.

He picked at the skin on his fingertips, "Yeah, I do actually." 

They had caught up, getting to see the Buffalo even closer now. It sat unbothered, basking in the sunlight with an occasional huff of air. They all managed to get a selfie together while it laid behind them. Nick was trying to talk and get a reaction out of it; but to no avail. They all made various bird noises at the beast, it paid them no mind. 

Clay pulled at the long hairs at the back of his neck, gnawing on the inside of his lip thinking about how George had caught him in this situation. He was nervous to move this along too fast; as much as he wanted George to know how he actually felt about him. As far as he knew at least; he was still figuring that out for himself. 

They moved along, falling behind the other two. They walked slowly, suddenly feeling foreign in their own atmosphere. It wasn't like them. 

"So uh... your smile is really nice." The blonde admitted, smiling to himself. George mirrored his smile as well. 

"You think so?" He asked, holding his backpack straps. "Did you have ever have braces?" 

Clay only hummed in agreement, licking his top row of teeth. "Yes, and yes. It was horrible; my mom made me get them in like the 5th grade, but at least I had good teeth for high school." 

George giggled, "I've never had them, I was just born with perfect teeth." 

Clay groaned, "Alright Mr. Perfect. No need to brag about how you've always been cute."

George only shook his head, "That's definitely not true. I got made fun of for my height for so long." He almost instinctively looked at Clay for size reference who chuckled.

"You are pretty short, but that doesn't mean you aren't attractive." He said, his sweet words spilling naturally like honey. 

George raised his eyebrows, "Attractive? Do you have something to tell me Clay?" 

Clay laughed it off, rubbing shoulders with George at the joke. They fell into silence for a few moments as Clay thought of what to say next, his mind spinning with the emotions currently up in the air, it was bittersweet; he was able to joke and tell George these things, feel his warmth from it. But he couldn't tell what he should do next, George was hard to read.

"And well, your skin, it's so smooth... and I think you should really get more sun, it looks good on you." He said, looking at George's pale arms as they tightened their grip on the straps of his bag, recalling how the sun bounced off of his skin, brightening him up and capturing every feature. "And your eyes, what do they look like to you?"

George thought for a moment, "I think it's just like- a duller version of yellow. I don't know how to describe my colors to you." He said, "Your eyes look like the grass, like a darker yellow." 

"They're definitely much nicer than that. And when you really look at them in the sun they're so... detailed." He said, moving his hands around in effort to explain. He felt stupid; he could write poetry about George if he wanted to, talking about how his skin would feel like flower petals, his hair soft as the grass. But Clay didn't express that side of him, the artistic side, as he rarely accepted that part of him himself. It was too confusing. 

George laughed at him, breaking his thought process "You're such an idiot." He bit back smiles as he stared at the ground.

The blonde laughed too, "I know; but at least you know I'm serious." 

"Does this mean you're going to keep staring at me?" He asked, looking up at him

Clay stopped for a second, touching his finger to his lip in fake deep thought. George's coffee eyes were scrunched at the corners as he grinned. He shook his head, scrunching his nose "Nah. You've had enough attention for today."

George rolled his eyes, "You're hilarious. I'm leaving you." He picked up his pace and began to walk away from Clay, who wheezed in response. 

* * *

They had driven around, finding an area with a small hiking trail that lead to a small spring. It was a good distance, but it was the last thing they had planned to hike for the day. 

They ate lunch and had begun to walk along the trail, Clay playing music out-loud from his phone. It was about an hour before sundown, and admittedly the experience would have been much worse if they didn't have Bad along with them; he had brought bug spray, and it seemed like there were a million mosquitoes. 

They continued to step along, making comments from time to time about the place. It was serene, and the trees towered over them as they hiked along. They would stop to read the signs along the trail as they came along, discovering interesting things about the area; and also becoming aware of the wildlife around them. 

"Wouldn't that be cool if we found another buffalo out here?" Nick asked, leading the group. 

"No. They can kill you, have you read any of the signs?" Clay asked. 

He groaned, "That's lame. I wish they would let us pet them." 

George giggled, "Go, try and pet one then." 

Bad gasped, "George! Don't wish death upon a party member."

Clay wheezed, "Bad, are we in Hypixel right now?" Nick busted out laughing at the comment. 

There was a big gap in the previously solid trail, and Nick ran up the side effortlessly, followed by Clay, who stood at the top; offering his hand to George. George rolled his eyes but gladly accepted. He also did the same for Bad, who was now letting Rat walk on her leash. 

As he lifted Bad up, he heard a quick _'Oh shit-'_ behind him, whipping his head around to see Nick slip on the steep edge of the trail. He merely slipped, steadying himself with fear in his eyes. They all simultaneously scolded him to be more careful. 

"Guys chill I was just looking, you guys are like my parents." He groaned, collecting himself and adjusting his clothes.

Clay shook his head, his heart rate had immediately sped up, "I don't want to hear it when you fall and have to walk back on a broken ankle." 

Bad especially scolded him, ordering that he now walk in the back of the group; which he objected, but settled to be second in line. 

They reached the end of the trail, revealing a big open area with a small waterfall. The cold water ran over the rocks, which glistened in the golden sunlight. The stream was clear, but the water was so low you could walk along the rocks. They all stopped to sit on some trunks for a moment; and marveled at the sight. 

"Wow; that was definitely worth the walk." Bad said, aweing at the waterfall and taking pictures with Nick's camera.

Clay had went to the edge of the stream, dipping his fingers into the water. It was freezing, and George and Nick had come up behind him. He flicked some water into George's face, who backed away and rubbed his face with his shoulder, scowling. 

"Can we walk on it?" Nick asked, eyes locked on the other edge of the stream.

Bad began to object but was interrupted by Clay, "-I think I am going to."

"Sick." They began to take off their shoes, and George just shook his head in disbelief. They tested out the water first, toes immediately freezing as they began to step on rocks,

"You two are idiots." George said. Sitting on the dirt path with his knees to his chest. 

"Language." Bad interjected.

George glared at him, "That's not even a bad word." 

Bad continued to stand, watching as his pet sniffed the area, "Yes it is."

"George! Come walk in here with us!" Nick yelled, already about halfway in the stream. "We're popping off right now!" They both had their arms outstretched to their sides, balancing as they cautiously stepped on the rocks. 

George raised an eyebrow, "Uh, no. I'm not falling in and walking back with wet clothes."

Clay laughed, "Who said you would fall in?" 

George threw up his hands, "Says the guy that almost drowned me last night!" 

They all laughed at that, and George watched as Nick leaned down to scoop some water into his hand, flinging it at the taller boy.

Clay reached down to do the same, and George just rolled his eyes at the blonde. His arms would flail in order to dodge the ice cold water being thrown at him, scrunching up his shirt and revealing his torso. His hair was long and falling in his eyes. His calf muscles flexed and moved as he fought to keep his balance. George held his face with one hand, allowing himself to look at his smile, listen to his laugh.

"You're staring." Bad said, and he looked back to see him stroking Rat who now sat in his lap, giving George the same exact expression. George glared.

They ignored the yelling coming from the other two, "Tell your dog to not look at me like that." He said, sticking his tongue out at her. She blinked.

Bad scoffed, "She has a name." His mouth was open in fake shock. But before George could respond all he heard was a final scream and a splash of water.

He whipped his head around, standing up, hearing Bad speak up behind him,

"You muffinheads!!!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my only excuse as to why this took so long is because i hated the way it came off everytime i finished it. i had to rewrite this a few times just so i could like it
> 
> anyways! love you all xoxo


End file.
